The Path Unfolding
by Aaron12
Summary: Three mysterious strangers descend upon New York City just as the Manhattan Clan becomes embroiled in a shadowy plot against Elisa's life, forcing them to defend her against a legion of their enemies. But in the midst of the chaos, a whole new revelation is brought to light that will rock both Goliath and Elisa to the core.
1. Chapter 1

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Part One  
By Aaron

It's a basic reality of existence. Most things, eventually, are discarded and forgotten. Perhaps it becomes damaged or destroyed. Maybe something better is created to replace it. Such is the case with subway tunnels as newer, longer routes are created to replace the old. And eventually, such tunnels become little more than pitch black ruins, never to be ventured into again. Of course, if one has no wish to be found, such neglected nooks can also offer a welcome opportunity for sanctuary or escape…especially when a pair of nocturnal eyes can make light unnecessary for them to see. However, when one is being pursued by three pairs of glowing eyes which each possess the same ability, that advantage is quickly lost.

"He's getting too far ahead," a female Gargoyle noted between breaths, regarding her fellow pursuer who had pulled ahead, closing the gap on their quarry. "He shouldn't be so reckless down here."

"At least he's keeping up, which is more than what WE'RE doing," the male voice running beside her replied. "Don't forget what we're down here to get back. Would you rather we lost it?"

"No," the female replied, "But I'd like the thought of losing HIM even less."

"You have to stop underestimating him," the male answered. "Trust me. He can take care of himself."

"You know, we can put a stop to this anytime you like!" the third pursuer, another male, called out to his quarry, who was quickly losing ground. "I mean, it's not like you're actually going to lose me down here!"

The fugitive up ahead spoke not a word, merely clinging tightly to the prize she was determined to get away with. But with her lead dwindling fast, it was looking less and less likely that her determination would be enough. Desperate to stay out ahead, she surged off to the side and leapt past a fragile pillar, slashing through it as she passed as causing it to give way.

Her chaser's eyes went wide as he noted a portion of the tunnel ceiling crashing down right in front of him. But in that split-second, he realized he had a decision to make. Either press forward, or let his target escape. His glowing eyes now taking on a grim determination, he braced himself and surged ahead, picking up speed.

"Wait!" the female Gargoyle behind him called out as he leaped forward, just as the rubble smashed into the ground.

Luckily, he managed to make it to the other side, ahead of the falling debris. But his bold move had cost him as well. Sprawling to the ground from his leap cost him precious strides, which his prey was already taking full advantage of in order to pull ahead.

He could easily rise to his feet to take up the chase again, but enough was enough. His patience was quickly wearing thin. Luckily, his prey's escape attempt had now given him weapons he could use for himself. Acting quickly, he grabbed some fair-sized chunks of the tunnel ceiling that had collapsed and whirled around with a yell, pitching them both through the air and striking the female escapee hard in the back, sending her sprawling forward.

As she slammed into the damp tunnel floor, a small metallic cube came dislodged from the bundle she was holding and clattered off to the side. But she was too lost in her primary concern to notice as she turned around to see her pursuer standing over her, just a few short yards away.

"Are you done?" he asked simply, with crossed arms and a confident grin, "Because you KNOW I can keep this up all night."

No way to escape on foot now. She could try to stand and fight, but with her opponent's reinforcements only moments away, the odds were clearly not in her favor. There was only one move left. Reaching for the item she'd collected, she pressed a red button, with sent trails of twinkling lights spiraling all around her.

"Oh, I think you're going to find that you have far less time than you think," she taunted, glaring up at her pursuer with glowing, blood-red eyes as the glittering trails converged, surrounding her and causing her to vanish in a blink, before her hunter had time to recover from his surprise and make a move.

Seconds later, another flash caught his attention as a laser blast slammed through the debris that had kept his two allies separated from the chase. But by the time they had both trotted up to him, it was already too late.

"What happened?" the first male asked as soon as hey saw that their quarry was nowhere in sight.

"You know what? I'm not really sure," was all the second male could say, looking around before his Gargoyle eyes spotted the metallic cube that had rolled away, compelling him to crouch down and pick it up. "But…from the look of things, at least it wasn't a CLEAN getaway. This might help shed some light on a few things."

Just then, the tiny cube, gripped in his fingers, came to life with an eerie glow, instantly catching everyone's attention. But before anyone could even make sense out of what was happening, trails of twinkling lights began to swirl around him, just as they had done with their escaped fugitive.

"Oh…this can't be good," was all the second male could say, his worried eyes turning to his compatriots as the trails of light quickly began to close in on him.

"No…! ADAM!" the female Gargoyle cried out, reaching desperately for her companion.

But she was a split-second too late. In a blink of light, he was gone…leaving his teammates confused and alone.

* * *

The sun was gently completing its descent beyond the New York skyline. And from Castle Wyvern, atop the Eyrie Building, that could only mean one thing, as the air quickly echoed with the sounds of crackling stone and roars that sounded almost like the great yawns of wild beasts. And after a few moments of waking stretches, The Gargoyles' Manhattan Clan was ready to face yet another night in the Big Apple.

"Hey Angela, want to get some breakfast?" Broadway asked immediately, heavily trotting up behind her while the rest of the clan prepared to go their separate ways for the evening.

"Hm…wouldn't miss it," Angela replied, her words mixed with a light giggle as Broadway took her hand in his and the pair glided down into the courtyard.

Oblivious to them, however, was Brooklyn, who was peering around the corner, nearby. And as they gently made their descent below, it only served as a reminder of how much closer they were becoming, night after night. Brooklyn, of course, had his own opinions about this blossoming relationship. But it was quickly becoming apparent that as far as Angela was concerned, his opinion would amount to very little. And that reality only made Brooklyn's heart feel even heavier as a heavy sigh crossed his beak. In fact, he was so lost in his own unhappiness that he didn't even notice Goliath's massive frame land not two feet behind him.

"Brooklyn, I'll be back in a few hours. Until then, the castle is yours," Goliath stated as old Hudson walked up behind him, only to take notice of Brooklyn's faraway stare. "Brooklyn?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, yeah. Don't…worry about it," Brooklyn replied, even though it was clear that his mind was still nowhere in the general area of the conversation.

"Are…you alright?" Goliath asked, raising a curious brow.

"Huh? Yeah! Yeah…it's…it's okay," Brooklyn answered, his mind slowly being pulled back to reality. "Go…do your thing. I've…I've got things here."

It was obvious to even a blind man that something was clearly bothering Brooklyn, but Goliath felt it best not to pry. After all, Brooklyn tended to be very private when it came to his own personal problems. He'd tell someone when he was ready. With that, Goliath leapt off the side and proceeded to glide into the city. And the sooner he reached his destination, the better, as he noticed heavy, black storm clouds rolling in off the horizon.

But Goliath wasn't the only one to take notice. Watching him fly off, Hudson's gaze immediately turned to the skyline before him, seeing the dark clouds rolling in. And an uncomfortable feeling began to well up inside him as a thoughtful groan passed his lips.

"Take care, Lad," he mused quietly to Goliath as his outline got further away. "I sense a foul nature to this wind…"

"…Something is coming."

* * *

"Well…he's off in a hurry," Xanatos noted, observing Goliath make his quick departure from the window of the castle nursery.

"Yeah, like we don't know where HE'S going," Fox chuckled before turning her attention to Little Alexander, her voice turning to motherly coos as she bounced him in her arms and gently nuzzled his cheek. "Yes we do. Yes we do."

Little Alexander only gurgled and giggled in response, much to Fox's delight as faithful Owen simply stood off to the side of the room watching the scene play out in his usual stoic demeanor. Just then, a series of beeps caught his attention as he looked down and noticed the time on his watch.

"If you'll forgive me, Mr. Xanatos, I'll be out of the building for the next few hours," Owen announced straightforwardly. "I have an appointment to keep."

"Of course," Xanatos replied to Owen, who merely responded with an acknowledging nod. "Owen?"

"Sir?" Owen answered as he turned, just short of the nursery door.

"Anything we need to know?" Xanatos asked his curiosity getting Fox's attention as they both regarded Owen with serious looks.

"Not yet," Owen answered simply, after a brief pause. With that, he merely turned and promptly took his leave.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate it when he gets cryptic like that?" Fox mentioned suspiciously as little Alexander reached up and patted her cheek.

"It's not exactly one of my favorite traits, either," Xanatos remarked in agreement before shrugging his shoulders. "Still…he's never given us a reason to doubt him before."

* * *

Try as Goliath might, the clouds had rolled in faster than expected and the rain was already coming down in sheets before he was even halfway to his destination. Still, there was an advantage to the torrential downpour in that most everyone was too busy scrambling to stay dry or find shelter to look up and see a Gargoyle flying overhead. While things had significantly improved over the last year, between John Castaway's arrest and the positive media exposure in the wake of the Red Eye Commuter Train incident, things remained far from rosy on the issue of human-Gargoyle relations. Still, to hear shouts of support now in concert with the jeers of contempt from the street couldn't help but make Goliath feel that at least some small steps were being taken in the right direction. Especially when so many cheers he heard were coming from small children. After all, Goliath new it was THAT generation that the clan would have to ingratiate themselves to in order to insure a harmonious future for both races.

However, the time for such thoughts quickly fled his mind as he found himself grinning with relief at the sight of a familiar skylight. Landing on the balcony just outside, he opened the skylight door and slipped inside as quickly as his massive figure would allow, trying to let in as little rain as possible. But no sooner did he close the skylight and turn around, than a white towel came hurtling through the air and flopped over his head.

"I have to be honest, there's a part of me that was hoping you wouldn't even TRY to make it out in this," an all-too familiar voice sounded through the darkness with a small laugh as Goliath raised the towel from his eyes. "Not that I'm complaining that you did."

Goliath wasn't exactly complaining, either, as he took in the sight before him. A blanket had already been laid out on the floor, complete with plates, silverware, a salad bowl and other assorted dishes. Of course, the setup only made sense, as there was really no piece of furniture in the entire apartment that Goliath could comfortably sit in. A pair of wine glasses sat on the coffee table, which was adorned with half a dozen candles. To be sure, it all added up to a very warm, inviting setting.

But all that paled in comparison to the sight of Elisa, who stood before him with a large stew pot in her hand. No surprise that she was using pot holders to protect her hands. Oven mitts would only have clashed with the look she was trying to pull off. The black mini cocktail dress she was wearing hugged her body like a second skin, with just the right amount of plunge in her neckline and the silk stockings accented her legs perfectly. Her eyelids were touched up with just the slightest hint of mascara and her lipstick was as red as the deepest rose. And Goliath could help but return her smile with one of his own as she opened her lips to speak.

"Hope you're hungry."

* * *

The storm was raging harder than ever as a sphere made of trails of twinkling lights suddenly appeared in an abandoned, hollowed-out building. Within seconds, the trails converged, creating the briefest flash. And just then, where the light had been, the young male Gargoyle now stood. But only for a few seconds as he suddenly shuddered and crumpled to the ground, his body wracked with pain.

"Uuuuunnnh…o-o-o-kay," he groaned, his talons shredding into the solid tile floor as he writhed in agony. "That was VERY uncomfortable…"

Just then, a pair of bright headlights flashed through the gaping holes of the building as a vehicle pulled into view. Without a word, the driver's side door opened and a lone figure emerged, strolling around to the front of the car and staring into the building, where the young Gargoyle was still struggling to get to his feet.

In fact, the Gargoyle was doing everything he could just to raise his head. But when he was finally able to get his bearings and looked over to regard the silhouette bathed in the headlights and rain, he could only hope that it was an ally. In the shape he was in, he was in no condition to fight an enemy.

* * *

"Well, looks like the storm's passed now. The clouds are breaking up and I can even see some stars," Elisa remarked as she looked through the skylight from her seat on the floor. But as she turned to Goliath, she couldn't help but notice the faraway look in his eyes.

"Goliath, are you okay?" she asked, getting his attention as he glanced over to see the worried look on her face. "There's nothing wrong with the food, is there?"

"No. The food was delicious, as always," Goliath answered, regarding Elisa with a tender smile as he reached over and softly ran the back of his fingers down her cheek, "Although, it could never compare to the company."

Nothing could keep Elisa from beaming at that moment as she closed her eyes and snuggled against Goliath's fingers, savoring the gentle warmth of his touch. But it would only be for a few blissful moments before her curiosity got the better of her.

"So, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" she asked, reaching up and taking his hand into both of hers.

"I've been growing concerned about Brooklyn," Goliath sighed, his eyes turning away toward the skylight. "His craving for companionship has been growing stronger in recent months. I understand it's only natural. But when I think about his role as second-in-command, it pains me to think of what might happen, to him or ANY member of the clan, should he allow it to distract him at a crucial moment."

"Sounds to me like he just has a lot of love to give," Elisa noted with a shrug before sliding into Goliath's lap, draping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up along his chest. "Maybe the best leaders always do. After all…it does remind me of someone else I know."

The warmth of Elisa's smile, combined with the softness of her eyes and the gentle caress of her hand against his cheek made it hard for Goliath to argue the virtues of responsibility at that moment. He could only look into her eyes and reply with a tender smile of his own.

"There we go. That's what I wanted to see…," Elisa noted, getting lost in his eyes for a moment longer before leaning in. Her voice then lowered to a seductive whisper as her arms wrapped tighter around Goliath's neck and her lips hovered just millimeters away from his.

"…Now let's see how long we can keep it there."

Goliath, himself had no objections as he reached up and put his hands on Elisa's hips, supporting her weight. Elisa, herself, meanwhile, slowly moved in, closing the remaining sliver of air that lingered between their lips. And a pair of soft, lingering pecks passed between them, all warming up to the moment they finally met in a long, deep kiss. And the moment their mouths locked together, Goliath gently freed his wings and spread them out wide, only to fold them back in again. And within seconds, both were wrapped from head to waist inside Goliath's wings, like a giant, leathery cocoon.

* * *

The rising sun was only scant minutes away by the time Goliath finally made his way back to the castle. But the look of contentment on his face made it perfectly clear that the time had little meaning…even as Brooklyn was waiting on the topmost tower for him to arrive, looking somewhat impatient.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, young man?" Brooklyn scolded, although his tone of voice made it clear he was only joking. "Your mother and I have been worried sick."

"So much for being back in a few hours," Broadway chimed in as he came up the steps. "Stayed for seconds, huh?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's just not feeling well," Brooklyn noted suspiciously, pointing towards a slight mark on Goliath's neck that could only have been made by Elisa's lipstick. "I mean, he IS looking a little blotchy."

"Ooo, could be an allergic reaction," Lexington chimed in, teasingly, gliding to perch behind Goliath. "I seem to recall he had symptoms like this one night last week, too…and then a couple of weeks before that."

"Oh, I think I've heard about this allergy," Broadway added, getting in on the joke. "I believe some of the other symptoms include…'getting all hot and bothered'?"

"Alright, that's enough out of the three of you," Goliath dismissed lightheartedly. "Now take your places. The sun is about to come up."

Clearly, the "teasing Goliath" portion of the night was over as the trio glided down to their individual spots to prepare for the dawn. Still, as Goliath took his own position, he found himself reaching up to rub the lipstick smudge off his neck. And as he looked down at the faint red mark on his fingers, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile and letting a slight chuckle pass his lips, which didn't escape Angela's ears as she sat on her perch, taking in the last few moments of the night.

"Now there's something I never thought I'd hear," she mused happily.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Hudson asked as he walked by.

"The sound of my father laughing," Angela answered, looking up to Goliath's ledge. "I know things haven't been easy for us here. They still aren't. But these last few months…he's been happier than I've ever seen him."

"Aye, Elisa's been good for him," Hudson remarked, his gaze shifting upward as well. "I know I've not seen him smile like that since…well…since…"

"It's alright, Hudson. You can say it. You're not going to hurt my feelings," Angela assured, even as her voice took on a more somber tone. "You mean, since…Demona."

"She took so much away from him, Lass. You have no idea," Hudson noted with a note of regret before his voice once again turned more upbeat. "It just does an old heart good to see someone giving it back."

"A few young ones, too," Angela added with an approving nod.

Hudson had to share Angela's smile as they took their places and prepared to say farewell to the world for one more sunrise. But at that moment, he found his mind turning more grim thoughts as he looked back to the storm that had rolled past earlier in the night and the feeling of dread he felt blowing on the wind. And as the first rays of dawn struck him, the last thing Hudson could remember going through his mind was his hope that whatever he felt at the beginning of the night was only his imagination.

* * *

Time spent in jail is primarily a waiting game…waiting for meals, waiting for exercise, waiting for mail, waiting for meetings with lawyers, waiting for dates to appear at trial. In fact, there's little else to do but sit and wait for the next thing to happen on one's daily schedule, sometimes for months or even years until they've seen their day in court. For even the most methodical minds, it can truly be a phenomenal test of patience.

For John Castaway, leader of the anti-Gargoyle cult known as the Quarrymen, however, patience was one commodity that he was beginning to find in very short supply. It had been a year since he was denied bail, following his arrest in the wake of the Red Eye Commuter Train incident - an arrest which quickly resulted in multiple charges…not the least of which was a count of Attempted Murder for every person who was aboard the train that night. Since then, his days seemed to consist of nothing but to sit in his cell at Rikers Island and await trial, separated from his loyal Quarrymen members.

Of course, if that were the only issue, things wouldn't be so bad. He knew he could easily continue to lead his troops from inside jail. But with so many Quarrymen continuing to have clashes with police over the past year, and even more getting arrested in the process, it was becoming harder and harder to maintain their numbers by drawing new recruits to the cause. Then, when the court seized all of Castaway's corporate assets six months ago, he lost his primary means of funding the group's activities. And what personal resources he had left were slowly, but surely, dwindling away to nothing. Try as he might, Castaway was soon forced to realize that he was fighting a two-front war…and losing on both sides. Now, a year later, with each setting sun, he was beginning to feel it all gradually slipping further and further away.

But suddenly, a whole new concern was about to enter his mind. As Castaway sat in his bunk, contemplating his fate, a small white envelope slid across the floor to stop right at his feet. Even more curious was when Castaway lifted his head, only to see a guard he didn't recognize standing off to the side of the cell door, his face partially hidden from view.

"Not the traditional venue for Mail Call," Castaway noted suspiciously.

"Just thought you might want to know what was going on in the outside world. Consider it a gift," the guard replied, tipping his hat with a smirk, "From one who is loyal to the cause…brother."

Castaway couldn't help but raise a wary eyebrow in the guard's direction. After all, a mysterious messenger with an even more mysterious message…how could this not feel like a setup? Still, it was only a few short moments before Castaway's curiosity overpowered his cautiousness as he picked up the envelope. And as he examined the simple, unassuming piece of paper within, all thoughts of distrust immediately fled his mind, his eyes going wide with shock.

"Is this verified?" he exclaimed in a quivering voice, his head whirling around to the guard.

The guard spoke not a word. He simply replied with a simple nod in Castaway's direction.

"No…NO!" Castaway bellowed in fury, his whole body shaking in rage as he ripped the message into confetti, tossing it about his cell. "They can take my reputation! They can take my livelihood! They can bury me in some God-forsaken pit! BUT THEY WILL NOT…DO…THIS!"

Scrambling to his bunk, Castaway frantically rummaged under the mattress until he found a second white envelope, this one of his own making. A second later, he was at his cell door, holding it out to the guard with his trembling hand.

"Take this message to our brothers on the outside," he shuddered to the guard, who gently took the envelope from his hand, responding with another simple nod. "We have to deal with this immediately…"

"We cannot wait for one more day…NOT FOR ONE MORE SECOND!"

As Castaway's voice echoed through the halls of the jail, the strange guard obediently strolled away. But as he got a few steps from Castaway's cell, a sinister smirk once again crossed his lips.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set in the sky, signaling the end of another day as a pair of jail guards made their way to the wing of Rikers where Castaway was being held. From the outset, there didn't seem to be anything unusual about either of them…except for the trolley one of the guards was pushing in front of him, covered with a simple white sheet.

"Hold it," one of another pair of guards announced from a small monitor room, bringing the procession to a halt, "You know the rules. Gotta check it."

The two guards trying to get in spoke not a word, but merely responded with unassuming nods. This gave one of the guards felt little reason to be worried as he emerged from the monitor room to examine the trolley's contents. But his everyday approach to the search quickly turned to one of alarm as he pulled back the sheet to discover a set of Quarrymen hammers lying underneath.

"What the…?" he blurted out in shock.

At that moment, the two disguised guards sprang to life. One quickly snapped up a hammer and swung it hard into the monitoring guard's chest, sending him crashing through the reinforced security glass of the monitor room. Desperately, the second monitor guard tried to activate the alarms, only to be brought to a halt as the second disguised guard smashed his own hammer into the control panel of the monitor room.

Moments later, the lights went out inside the entire wing, driving the entire population into a rabid frenzy. All except John Castaway, who merely sat quietly on his bunk, a wide, evil smile crossing his face. After all, unlike the savages in the cells next to him, he knew exactly what was coming. And sure enough, moments later, the two disguised guards appeared outside his cell, snapping the sheet off the trolley and revealing Castaway's specialized Quarryman armor.

"Your trappings of war, brother," the first guard announced, bowing slightly as he handed Castaway his Quarryman hood.

* * *

Another sunset, another night on the streets of the Big Apple…those were exactly Matt Bluestone's thoughts as he checked his watch outside the police precinct, waiting patiently for Elisa to arrive. Of course, he would only be waiting a few seconds longer as an unmistakable red car quickly pulled up, with Elisa popping out an instant later.

"Hey partner. Just gotta check in and we'll be ready to hit it," she announced as she trotted up the steps, a cheery lilt lingering in her voice.

"Well, well, 24 hours and still glowing," Matt teased, checking his watch again. "Can I take this to mean that last night's dinner plans went better than expected?"

"YOU can get that smirk off your face," Elisa responded lightheartedly, with a warning finger in Matt's direction.

Of course, as Elisa turned back to walk inside the precinct with Matt, she couldn't help but toss her hair back with a very satisfied grin as her mind drifted back to the night before. But she was about to be faced with other concerns as Captain Chavez quickly stormed into the main room.

"Okay, listen up! We just got word of a jailbreak in progress at Rikers!" she announced urgently, instantly grabbing the attention of every police officer in the room. "Early reports are that there are Quarrymen inside the facility!"

Instantly, the entire precinct sprang to life, with officers darting about in all directions to respond to the emergency. After all, they all knew what they had to do…especially Elisa, who turned back towards the precinct doors with a scowl of fury across her face.

"Come on!" she shouted to Matt, bursting out the doors and nearly knocking down a young man with tanned skin, dark, brushed-back hair and a black leather jacket.

"Elisa, wait up!" Matt called after her, hopelessly trying to keep up as she bounded down the steps and vaulted over the hood of her car.

"You and I both know there's only one reason they went there!" Elisa responded angrily as she jumped behind the wheel and fired up the engine. "There is NO WAY that animal is getting loose on MY watch!"

With that, Elisa's car was tearing off down the street, almost before a yelping Matt could get into the passenger side and leaving a very perplexed young man still standing on the steps of the precinct. But as he walked inside, all he found was even more confusion, as the building was filled with a bustling din of officers moving around in all directions.

"ExcusemebutI…! I'mverysorrybutcouldyouplease…! Ibegyourpardonbutifitwouldn'tbetoomuchtrouble…!" he called out, desperately trying to get someone's attention before finally slumping over in exasperation. Just then, he found his own attention being taken up as Captain Chavez's voice once again sounded over the commotion.

"Alright people, if the Quarrymen are looking to get Castaway off the island, it's either going to be by boat or by air!" she called out. "We're going to have choppers and Harbor Patrol sweeping the area ASAP! But I want all available units heading to the nearest docks! We are NOT letting THIS one get away!"

At the very mention of the words "Quarrymen" and "Castaway", the young man's ears suddenly perked up. At that moment, his focus moved back towards the precinct doors with a curious eyebrow raised as his gaze shifted in the direction Elisa had just driven off in.

"Hmmm…"

* * *

While the police were still marshaling their forces, a Quarrymen helicopter was already proceeding toward Rikers Island. Armed guards were already on the scene, ready to repel the helicopter as it appeared overhead. But a lengthy spray of automatic gunfire from a pair of Quarrymen inside the aircraft soon had many of them diving for cover. Pressing the advantage in the commotion, the Quarrymen tossed a pair of smoke bombs down into the courtyard just as a Quarryman hammer from the ground smashed open the door to the jailhouse where Castaway was being held.

With Castaway fully clad in his Quarryman armor, he was virtually indistinguishable from the rest of his fleeing troops, which only added to the confusion of the guards. Everything was going according to plan. With a quick rope ladder tossed down, the helicopter waited just long enough for Castaway and the others to get a firm grip and then it was taking off across the East River, with its precious cargo in tow. The guards on the ground, meanwhile, were left with no choice but to fire blind through the smoke and hope that they managed to hit something.

"We just got word from our lookouts in the Bronx," one of the Quarrymen pilots reported once Castaway had clambered inside. "Police are already being dispatched to the waterfront. And Elisa Maza is apparently leading the charge."

"Of course she is," Castaway replied, almost in amusement as his wicked smile practically beamed from underneath his hood.

* * *

"Elisa, look!" Matt exclaimed as he pointed to the sky, seeing the Quarrymen helicopter come streaking overhead.

"I've got it!" Elisa responded, swerving the car around as the helicopter passed and charging back after it, with two other police cars close behind. "Call it in!"

"This is Detective Bluestone! Quarrymen aircraft sighted, Detective Maza and I are in pursuit!" Matt announced over the police radio. "We are proceeding north along Hunts Point!"

Elisa, meanwhile, pressed her foot down hard on the accelerator and surged ahead, determined to keep pace with the helicopter. But after minutes of dogged pursuit, the chase entered a neighborhood slum, where suddenly, the helicopter began to look shaky. And as Matt squinted upward, a thin thread of smoke could be seen trailing from behind.

"It looks like they're leaking fuel," Matt observed. "One of the guards at Rikers must've gotten a lucky shot off."

"Let's just hope that luck stays with US," Elisa replied, wanting to cautiously avoid being too optimistic.

"We're going down! I've got to find us a safe place to land!" the Quarrymen co-pilot shouted as Castaway scanned the area intently.

"There! Put us down on that rooftop!" he ordered, pointing towards an abandoned apartment building. "It's perfect."

Moments later, the helicopter touched down on the roof, just as Elisa and the other two cars pulled up. Guns drawn, they all hurried towards the dilapidated structure moving quickly to cut off the Quarrymen's escape.

"Alright, we are ALL we've got until backup arrives. The object of the game is to KEEP-THEM-IN-THIS-BUILDING," Matt quietly instructed to the other two units. "You two, cover the fire escape. You two go around the side and make sure no one tries to get out through the back."

With silent nods, the uniformed officers quickly went their separate ways, following Matt's orders as he and Elisa proceeded inside. But as determined as they were to recapture Castaway, with only flashlights and streetlights to see by, it wasn't long before the eerie silence of the building began to wear on their nerve.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's WAY too quiet in here?" Elisa whispered uncomfortably over her shoulder.

"Tell me about it. To be honest, I'd rather be SHOOTING my way through this," Matt answered softly. "Something here does NOT feel right."

At that moment, as if to prove Matt's point, the ceiling directly overtop of them was smashed in and a pair of Quarrymen dropped from above, causing Elisa and Matt to both drop their pistols in the dark. The first Quarryman charged straight towards Elisa, taking a swing with his hammer. Luckily, Elisa stepped into the attack, throwing the Quarryman off balance as she grabbed the handle, struggling to get it out of his hand. Meanwhile, the second Quarryman, too close to take a swing, slammed the handle of his hammer across Matt's forehead, knocking him flat on his back. And with Matt on the ground, the second Quarryman turned around and headed towards Elisa, who was still trying to fight off her first attacker.

Elisa, however, was in no mood for a wrestling match as her knee shot up, planting hard into the first Quarryman's gut and knocking the wind out of him. As the first Quarryman dropped to one knee, Elisa tore the hammer out of his hand and whirled around to face the second Quarryman who was running in, preparing to take a huge swing. Fortunately, his telegraphed attack was easy to spot and Elisa easily ducked under the blow, snapping back up and driving the hammer she'd procured into the second Quarryman's chest. The jolt from the electrified weapon ripped through the Quarryman's body, sending him flying back into the wall and crumpling to the floor next to Matt, who was still recovering. With that, Elisa turned her attention back to the first Quarryman who had just managed to catch his breath. But it wasn't fast enough to counter Elisa, who dashed towards him with a yell, swinging the hammer hard into his ribcage, just as he turned. The force of the blow, combined with the electric burst from the hammer sent the Quarryman hurtling down the hallway and smashing through a rotting door before finally sliding along the floor in an unconscious heap. That left him easy pickings for Elisa, who ran into the room and quickly handcuffed him to a nearby radiator.

"You okay, partner?" she asked, rushing back over to Matt, who was just getting back to his feet.

"Uunnh, yeah…I think so," Matt groaned, still shaking out the cobwebs as he handcuffed the second Quarryman to an exposed wooden plank, which was part of the building's structure.

"Good. Here, you might want to take this," Elisa responded, surprising Matt by handing him the second Quarryman's hammer while charging up her own. "I think it's about time someone put these things to some GOOD use for a change."

* * *

"It's too quiet down there," Castaway mentioned nervously to two other Quarrymen as the commotion downstairs had noticeably subsided. "Go and check on our brothers. See that they're alright."

Obediently, the two other Quarrymen rushed out of the room to look in on their comrades. But just as they got within two steps of the entrance, the fragile wooden door was suddenly blown to splinters and they were both knocked back by the force. Desperately, both troops tried to recover. But as they quickly shook themselves out of their daze, they were as stunned as Castaway to see Elisa and Matt standing in the doorway, both wielding their appropriated Quarrymen hammers.

"Knock knock, Johnny!" Matt called out in Castaway's direction.

"You know, Castaway, I have to admit, these things actually ARE pretty cool," Elisa noted tauntingly, "I guess all it takes is the right person to use them, huh?"

"Grind…her bones…TO DUST!" Castaway roared in fury, sending his loyal Quarrymen springing to their feet and charging towards Elisa and Matt.

Unfortunately for the Quarrymen, this was no surprise attack like the first one was. Elisa and Matt were both more than prepared this time around. And it quickly became apparent that a couple of muscled goons in funny get-ups were no match for a pair of street-hardened police officers. As one Quarryman took a wild swing toward Elisa, she quickly blocked the hammer with her own before sending a fast kick straight into his knee, blowing out his vertical base and dropping him to the floor. Before he could recover, Elisa slammed a roundhouse kick square against his right temple, smashing his head into the old plaster wall and knocking him unconscious. Matt, meanwhile, ducked under the hammer of the other Quarryman before jamming the handle of his own hammer into his ribs, then right between his eyes, putting him down as well.

Moments later, uniformed police officers came running into the room from other units that had just arrived on the scene and the two Quarrymen were quickly cuffed. But as Elisa's attention shifted back across the room, Castaway was already out the far door, where he could be heard running up the stairs.

"FREEZE!" Elisa shouted, taking off after him.

"Elisa, wait!" Matt yelled, following right behind. Unfortunately, his foot planted down on a piece of rotted floor and his leg fell through, leaving Elisa to carry on alone as the other officers had to fish him out.

It was only a few flights of stairs that Elisa had to scale before making it to the roof. Charging outside, Elisa looked around, only to see the lifeless helicopter still perched on the rooftop. But there was no sign of Castaway.

Just then, Elisa heard the familiar crackle of a Quarrymen hammer go off right behind her and whirled around to see Castaway surging forward, swinging wildly at her head with a growl of rage. Luckily, all his attack hit was the wall of the door leading to the stairway as Elisa stepped back and slipped, causing her to fall backwards onto the roof, her hammer sliding away. But that wasn't about to stop Castaway, who tromped toward Elisa, tearing off his hood to show his face twisted with rage.

"Did you really think you could get away with such a thing? DID YOU THINK I WOULD LET YOU?" he bellowed, sounding almost completely unhinged as he stalked Elisa, who was trying desperately to scramble to her feet. But she was too late as Castaway already was lifting his hammer overhead to deliver his final blow.

"FOR THE PURITY OF OUR RACE!"

Just then, a monstrous roar sounded off from across the roof, getting both Castaway and Elisa's attention. But just as Castaway turned, the unconscious body of his helicopter pilot flew through the air and knocked him against the wall. Recovering quickly, Castaway looked up, only to gasp in shock at the sight before him. For what he saw was a shadowy figure in the form of a large, long-haired Gargoyle, snarling under his breath with glowing eyes and holding the unconscious Quarrymen co-pilot by the scruff of the neck.

"…Goliath…" Elisa uttered under her breath, her voice laced with welcome relief.

The shadowy figure didn't answer, but merely growled under its breath as it plunged its hand into the steel side of the helicopter with its talons and tore it back out, causing fuel to gush out over the roof. Castaway, however, did have a response as he heard Elisa's reaction to the stranger's arrival.

"You…" he hissed under his breath, recovering his hammer and charging at the figure, who simply tossed aside the unconscious Quarryman in its hand. "This time I'll put an end to you BOTH, Goli…OOLPH!"

Castaway didn't even get to finish his boast as the Gargoyle lunged forward with blinding speed, driving its talons into his armored chest plate before he could swing his hammer. Not enough to pierce the armor, but enough to collapse it into his chest, pressing the metal hard against Castaway's ribs. With that, the shadowy figure flexed its hand, crumpling the armor even more, which began to restrict Castaway's breathing.

"You…y-you're not…Wh-what…?" Castaway rasped as the growling form pulled the hammer from his loosening grip.

With a roar, the Gargoyle threw its arm upward to send Castaway's flailing body high into the air. But it was only a matter of time before gravity would have its way and Castaway was sent hurtling back down. And that was right where the figure was waiting, with a charged hammer in hand. Stepping in, the Gargoyle took a massive swing with one arm and drove the hammer into Castaway's side as he came down. And Castaway was send smashing into the wall by the stairway door before flopping onto the roof in a heap. With that, the Gargoyle merely dropped Castaway's hammer at its feet and the fight was quickly over.

"Goliath?" Elisa called over softly, having already risen to her feet.

For a moment, the glowing Gargoyle eyes turned their gaze to Elisa, eying her intently. It spoke not a word. All Elisa could hear was its breathing. But as she took a step forward, the shadowy figure leaped back to the edge of the roof.

"Goliath, wait!" Elisa shouted in confusion.

Again, the figure remained silent, but merely folded in its wings to regard Elisa with a formal, flourishing bow. A moment later, it then jumped across to the next building, using the talons on its feet to sprint along the wall before spreading its wings and gliding off into the night.

"Elisa! Elisa!" Matt could be heard calling to her as he hobbled onto the roof, hurt, but uninjured. Of course, his sore leg soon became the least of his concerns as he surveyed the devastation around him.

"Are you alright?" he exclaimed, "What happened up here?"

"Oh, you know how it is," Elisa answered with a shrug, turning a warm smile in the direction her rescuer had soared off in. "Just an ordinary citizen doing his civic duty."

* * *

"Goliath! GOLIATH!"

The echoing voice quickly got Goliath's attention. He was quietly enjoying a good read in the Eyrie Building library until Broadway's large frame came bursting through the twin doors.

"You've gotta come see this!" Broadway exclaimed, making Goliath even more curious. "It's all over the news!"

Following Broadway into Hudson's TV room, Goliath quickly discovered the rest of the clan had gathered as well. And it soon became apparent why. Spread across the bottom of the television screen was the news report's tagline, "JOHN CASTAWAY REARRESTED", which instantly piqued Goliath's interest.

"This is Travis Marshall, reporting from The Bronx, where a daring raid by New York's finest has just put a quick end to a jailbreak attempt perpetrated by John Castaway, leader of the now, all-but defunct, anti-Gargoyle group known as The Quarrymen," Marshall spoke in his usual professional demeanor, with the clan hanging on every word.

"Hey look," Lexington piped up, pointing at the corner of the screen. "Isn't that Elisa's car?"

"If she was there, I hope she's alright," Angela noted, which only caused a worried grumble to pass Goliath's lips.

* * *

"Castaway, who was indicted on numerous charges, including multiple counts of Attempted Murder for his efforts to destroy the Red Eye Commuter Train last year, was remanded to Rikers Island, pending…," Marshall's continued report was cut off as Captain Chavez muted the sound on her TV monitor, turning her attention to Elisa and Matt, who were both standing in her office.

"I've already looked over your initial reports," Chavez noted, a somewhat cynical tone lingering in her voice. "So Maza, you have absolutely no idea who this person was that jumped in when Castaway attacked you?"

"As the report says, Captain, I never saw a face," Elisa replied confidently with a shrug, as her answer had the virtue of being true.

"Okay," Chavez responded, tossing Elisa a suspicious look, "Look, Maza…do you want to sit down and talk to anyone?"

"About what?" Elisa asked simply.

"Well, you DID almost get killed tonight," Chavez answered with some concern, "I've known cops who've been on the job twice as long as you who couldn't remember their badge numbers after going through something like that."

"Relax, Captain. I'm fine," Elisa chuckled in protest, even as she was quick to change the subject. "Look, I'm just going to swing by my parents' place, let them know I'm alright. I'll be back at my desk in an hour, okay?"

"Alright," Chavez reported uneasily as Elisa walked out, with Matt right behind her. "Bluestone…hang back a minute."

Matt was naturally confused and a little concerned about Chavez's request for a private talk. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to defy an order from his Captain as he closed the door, letting Elisa continue on her way.

"Look, about Maza," Chavez began, making Matt slightly more nervous, "Does she seem alright to you?"

"What, Elisa?" Mat replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, she's fine. Come on, Captain, you know how it is with her. She lives for the job."

"That's what worries me," Chavez noted. "I've seen my fair share of good cops burn out because they end up setting a pace for themselves they can't handle. Look, you talk to her more than I do. I'm just wondering…does she…unwind when she's not here? Is she at least seeing somebody?"

"Seeing somebody?" Matt responded as he rolled his eyes, turning away so Chavez wouldn't see his expression. "Oooooooh yeah, she's seeing somebody alright."

Sensing that Matt didn't want to elaborate, Chavez felt it best not to pry any further. So she simply turned the sound back on and went back to watching Travis Marshall's report on Castaway's capture. However, a few moments later, she couldn't help but notice that Matt was still frozen halfway out the door after he'd opened it.

"Something wrong?" she asked curiously.

"I've been going over what happened tonight in my head, that's all," Matt replied with a hint of distress. "And I just had a very disturbing thought…"

"…What if that escape attempt…WASN'T an escape attempt?"

* * *

While Matt was talking with Chavez, Elisa had already made her way outside the precinct, heading toward her car. But just as she was about to get inside, she noticed a large shadow pass by overhead, followed by a familiar gust of air. Turning in the direction the shadow had gone, she looked across to a dark alley across the street and found a sly grin crossing her face. She then quickly trotted across to the alley, where she casually stepped inside. And sure enough, moments later, Goliath dropped from above, landing right in front of her, much to her delight.

"Elisa, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, having taken off as soon as Travis Marshall's news report had aired.

"I'm fine, you big dope," Elisa giggled in response before reaching back and slapping Goliath across the arm.

"Ex…cuse me?" Goliath responded with a raised brow, clearly more confused than hurt in any way.

"THAT…was for taking off tonight before I had a chance to do THIS…," Elisa replied, poking Goliath in the chest before jumping up and throwing her arms around his neck.

Now Goliath was TRULY baffled, his eyes widening as Elisa's mouth met his in a long, deep kiss. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. But it wasn't long at all before the why had lost all meaning. Within seconds, he was closing his eyes and putting his hands on Elisa's hips to support her full weight, more than willing to let the moment play out. And Elisa had no intention of letting it end anytime soon as every moment she thought about breaking the kiss, she simply pressed onward. Eventually, though, her lips finally parted from his, but even then, it was monumentally slow and steady. And she still couldn't stop from leaning in once more to flutter one more delicate peck across his lips for good measure, right at the very end.

"And THAT…was for saving my neck tonight," she added with a loving smile, her arms still around his neck as she suddenly began to laugh. "Although, I have to say…that whole 'bowing' bit you did at the end there…kinda over the top. I don't know if you're gonna want to stick with that. But that 'running along the building' thing was pretty cool."

"Uuuhhh, what…ARE you talking about?" Goliath wondered, his bewilderment instantly returning.

"Wait a minute…what are YOU talking about?" Elisa asked back, now becoming confused, herself.

* * *

The clamor of large twin doors slamming open echoed throughout the large room as a tall, well-built young man with fiery red hair and a black suit with gold-plated armor stormed inside, slamming his gold mask on a nearby table with a yell of frustration. Following right behind him was a young female Gargoyle with blue skin, violet eyes, a small beak, long horns that curved behind her head and flowing, jet-black hair, wearing a short, yellow kimono with black trim and a pair of samurai swords strapped to her back.

"I am NOT going to be the one to tell them that we just stood by and watched their only son vanish into thin air!" she yelled, clearly as angry as her human teammate. "We have GOT to do something to FIND him!"

"No one is disputing that…but would you happen to have any particularly clever ideas as to how we're supposed to PULL THAT OFF?" the young man shouted back.

The female Gargoyle, while still frustrated, could offer nothing in reply, which then sent the young man back to his irate brooding. What the pair of them didn't know, however, was that their argument was being very closely watched on a security monitor in a darkened office. Inside the office, a lone man sat at a desk with another man and a woman standing on either side behind him.

"It's time," the man behind the desk uttered simply, sending the second man silently over to a filing cabinet to pull out a large envelope.

"Finally," the female added, watching the monitor intently. "I was actually starting to get a little worried."

A few moments later, the second man appeared in the room where the young, armored man and his Gargoyle friend were still wallowing in their frustration. And they were both quick to turn their attention to him as he knocked on the door.

"Look, whatever it is, it's going to have to wait," the young man sighed dismissively. "You have NO idea the night I'm having right now."

"You might be surprised," the second man replied straightforwardly.

Almost immediately, his words caused the young man to raise a curious eyebrow in his direction, only to have the second man extend the large envelope towards him. Even more perplexed, the young man took the envelope and opened it. As soon as he took it, he felt something on the bottom that looked like a key. And sure enough, as soon as he opened it, he turned it over and a key for a safe deposit box flopped into his hand.

Growing more confused by the second, the young man quickly turned his attention to the handful of papers that were also inside. But as he read the words on the first page, he soon received more answers than he bargained for as he turned back to his messenger with a look of shock.

"You've GOT to be kidding," he uttered in astonishment before looking over his shoulder at the female Gargoyle, tilting the letter slightly so she could get her own look at it. "You are NOT going to believe THIS."


	2. Chapter 2

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Part Two  
By Aaron

Bathed in darkness, the room was deathly silent, until a tiny trail of light carved itself through the air in a large, oval shape. Just then, the oval opened up like a door, allowing the red-haired human and female Gargoyle to step inside. And the light from the large room on the other side of the portal quickly revealed that they had let themselves into the sealed vault of a closed bank.

"You don't think you could have come in the morning when the place was open?" the female Gargoyle asked, looking around nervously.

"You're the one who didn't want to tell anyone what had happened. You really want to wait?" the young man replied, searching along the wall for the safe deposit box number that matched the number on the key.

Finding the box, the young man pulled it out and placed it on a nearby table to open it. Reaching inside, he quickly pulled out what had been nestled inside. It was covered in dust, but nevertheless, the sight was all-too familiar as he gently gripped the tiny metallic cube in his fingertips.

"Besides…if that message was any indication," he continued as he stared intently at their prize, "timing is going to be everything."

* * *

"I don't get it. If Goliath didn't save Elisa, then who did?" Broadway asked, after Elisa had returned with Goliath to the Eyrie building to explain what had happened.

"It couldn't have been any of the clones," Lexington noted. "They're all still frozen in stone where we left them."

"Is it possible? Could there truly be a new Gargoyle in New York?" Angela piped up, a hint of optimism in her voice.

"I don't know," Brooklyn pointed out suspiciously. "Don't forget, we've been faked out before."

"Oh, trust me…there is no way some hired muscle in a cheap Halloween costume could have done what THIS thing did. He ripped through that helicopter like it was tin foil and tossed Castaway 12 feet into the air with one hand. Everything I know about you guys tells me this was DEFINITELY the real deal," Elisa argued, dismissing Brooklyn's doubts before looking at her watch. "Look, I've got to get back to the precinct. I told Captain Chavez that I wouldn't be gone much longer. But one way or another, we'll get this figured out."

There was no need for any more words to be shared as Goliath put his hands on Elisa's shoulders. And with Elisa gently taking Goliath's face in her hands, the two leaned in close, gently pressing their foreheads together. It had become something of a ritual between them in recent months whenever others were around, opting for that more reserved act of affection in lieu of a kiss, which they both felt was something best shared privately. A moment later, Elisa was heading back to work, leaving the rest of the clan all wondering exactly what had happened to her that night.

"Goliath? You've been oddly quiet," Hudson remarked, drawing the rest of the clan's attention. "What do YOU think about all this, Lad?"

Goliath didn't answer right away, mostly because he didn't have an answer to give. When he finally turned to face the clan, it was clear that he was as starved for answers as they were. But nevertheless, he was still the leader, and no matter how unknown things may have seemed, he still had a command decision to make. And in situations like this, all he could do was draw the best conclusion he could with the information he had at the time.

"If there IS another Gargoyle in this city, it is ESSENTIAL that we locate him quickly," he replied soberly, "For his OWN safety, if no one else's."

* * *

Work at a big corporation like Nightstone Enterprises basically requires everyone to act in the role of a small cog in a big machine. Despite the unending waves of inter-office meetings and group projects, each individual more or less stays focused on their own separate tasks. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to focus on anyone else's work. So there was little surprise that, despite the hum of activity buzzing around, not a single person gave notice to the quiet, unassuming man, making his long, slow plod towards the elevator. Even surrounded by his fellow employees inside the elevator car, not one gave him as much as the slightest glance. Something which made him all the more uncomfortable as each second took him closer to the top floor of the Nightstone building's head office. After all, he certainly wouldn't have minded having at least one other person to provide him with backup. After all, he'd heard the rumors…they all had…of what "Miss Dominique Destine" was capable of whenever someone told her something she didn't want to hear. And she was DEFINITELY not going to want to hear this.

Well, no point in fretting about it now. After getting off the elevator, he'd managed to drag himself to her office door. There was simply nothing left for him to do except break the bad news. Desperately trying to stop his hand from trembling, he reached up and timidly knocked on the door, announcing his arrival.

"Uh…ex…excuse me…Miss Destine?" he called nervously as he inched his way in, swallowing hard as he noticed her examining a series of papers from behind her desk. "My…my name is…Elmore Rollins…I'm from Accounting…"

"I'm about to go home for the night, Rollins," Dominique responded straightforwardly, not even looking up from her desk. "Whatever you have to say to me, say it to me quickly."

"Um…yes, well…," Rollins replied, trying as hard as he could to steady himself, "I've…I've been going over our daily expense accounts and, uh…I…discovered a…slight…discrepancy."

"What kind of a 'discrepancy'?" Dominique asked coldly, her eyes suddenly growing stern as she raised them in Rollins' direction.

"Well, I…I discovered that a rather large sum of money…20 million dollars, to be exact…was-was…transferred from our Corporate Investment Portfolio," Rollins explained, his voice shuddering as Dominique seemed to grow angrier with every word he spoke. "But-but-but-but I…I-I…h-have…no…idea…w-where the money was transferred to…or wh-wh-who it was…who…au-authorized the transfer in the first…"

"ENOUGH!" Dominique roared, slamming her fists into her desks as her eyes burned with rage. "Are you crawling in here like a worm and telling me…that someone has stolen 20 million dollars from me…but you have no idea who stole it, where it is or HOW TO GET IT BACK?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I…," was all Rollins could say in response as Dominique stormed towards him. But he suddenly found Dominique's demeanor instantly shift as the sight of the sun just beginning to set outside caught her eye. At that moment, she stopped in her tracks, pausing to take a deep breath.

"You have 24 hours, Rollins," she hissed, trying to maintain her calm. "After that, you'd better come back here with FAR more than what you've come to me with now…which was NOTHING. Now leave."

Rollins couldn't get out of the room fast enough after that, closing the door firmly behind him. That was an experience that he was not looking forward to repeating. If anything, the reality of Dominique Destine's temper was far worse than any of the rumors he'd heard…especially when, for just a split second, Rollins could have sworn he saw Dominique's eyes glowing red.

Just then, as he slowly made his way to the elevator, Rollins whirled around as he heard Dominique crying out from inside her office. But the sound that met his ears, only seconds later, he could only describe as a piercing, demonic scream. Rollins had no idea what was going on in there and he didn't want to know. All he wanted to do was get as far away from that office as he could, running to the elevator as fast as his legs could carry him.

* * *

"…Castaway was then moved to North Infirmary at Rikers, where he is reportedly in stable condition. Still no leads as to last night's break-in at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Among the items stolen in the theft were…"

The radio broadcast was immediately interrupted as Elisa shut off her car outside the precinct. After last night's craziness, all she found herself hoping was that this night found itself a little quieter. But then, there was really nothing to do but wait and see what happened. As usual, Matt was up on the steps, waiting for her as she pulled up. But as Elisa approached him, she couldn't help but notice that he seemed somewhat impatient and distracted.

"Hey Matt," Elisa called, breaking him out of the train of thought he was lost in.

"Whoa!" Matt exclaimed. "Elisa, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Why, has Chavez got you asking?" Elisa asked, walking inside.

"Well…it's just…," Matt responded uneasily before taking Elisa's arm and guiding her down an empty hall, "Look, I'm just wondering…have you noticed anything strange happening today? You know, maybe someone following you or something?"

"Excuse me, where is THIS coming from?" Elisa wondered. "Come on, Matt, I didn't think anything other than the Illuminati could make you THIS paranoid."

"Believe me, if that was ALL it was, I wouldn't be so worried," Matt answered. "It's just…after last night…"

"Matt, relax," Elisa replied assuredly. "What happened last night is over. Nothing a little head-to-pillow action couldn't fix."

"That's not it," Matt argued, keeping his voice down. "Elisa, I don't think last night was what we thought it was. I don't think it was a jailbreak…"

"…I think it was a hit…And I think YOU were the target."

"WHAT?" Elisa exclaimed, only to lower her voice immediately as Matt hushed her. "Where did you come up with THAT all of a sudden?"

"I've been playing the whole thing over and over in my head," Matt explained. "And nothing that happened after the helicopter landing made any sense. First, it looked like the helicopter was leaking fuel, but the helicopter WASN'T leaking fuel. Then, we had all the exits to the building covered, but no one tried to get down the fire escape and no one tried to get out through the back. They all stayed inside the building. The only way that works is if they were HUNTING, not running."

"Even if you're right, how does that mean they were hunting ME?" Elisa asked.

"Everything else they did after they attacked us," Matt answered. "When those first two Quarrymen jumped us at the entrance, one of them knocked me down. He had me cold, but he turned around and focused on YOU instead. And how do you explain Castaway going after you on the roof the way he did?"

"Matt, Castaway's a psychopath," Elisa argued.

"No doubt," Matt noted. "But you and I both know, crazy doesn't mean stupid. If he REALLY wanted to get away, why didn't he just DO it? He could have flown off in the helicopter and left his last two goons behind to keep anyone busy. But he DIDN'T…"

"…He wasn't trying to escape, Elisa. He was trying to KILL you."

Elisa could only stare blankly for a moment, taking all of Matt's arguments in. In truth, her mind had been so fixated on this mysterious Gargoyle figure that saved her life she'd barely given anything else that had happened the night before a second thought. But after taking a moment to see the whole picture laid out before her, she had to admit, Matt was making some very good points.

But then, even if Matt was right, it still didn't make any sense. Granted, Elisa's friendship with the Gargoyles was a fact well-known to the Quarrymen. But even someone as single-minded as John Castaway, after sitting in jail for over a year, wouldn't suddenly go to such exorbitant lengths just to try and take her head over THAT. Clearly, a crucial piece was still missing from this puzzle. And if this truly was all about killing Elisa, as Matt feared, they needed to find out what that piece was, and fast.

"Maza, Bluestone, there you are," Captain Chavez announced from the hallway entrance, breaking them both out of their train of thought. "I need to talk to you for a second."

"What's up, Captain?" Matt asked as they both walked over.

"I'm putting you both on special assignment, starting tonight," Chavez explained. "We just got a formal request from the LAPD this morning to assist with a case they're working. Apparently, there's a syndicate out east that may be looking to get its hooks in here. They've sent one of their Detectives who's been investigating it. He'll fill you in on the details."

"When's he arriving?" Elisa asked.

"Already got here last night, apparently," Chavez replied before turning her head to the main room. "Gargan!"

"Yo!" a voice called back over the crowd as a figure rose to his feet, revealing a young man with tanned skin, dark, brushed-back hair and a black leather jacket.

"THAT'S the guy LA sent us to help with this?" Matt uttered worriedly, noting the man's teenaged appearance as he made his way across the room. "I hope he gets older as he gets closer."

"I'll grant you, he may be 25," Chavez noted quietly. "However…"

"Twenty-five…are you kidding?" Elisa whispered. "He doesn't even look like he SHAVES."

"HOW-EVER…he has an exemplary record and his Captain has personally vouched for him. He's a good cop and we're going to treat him like one," Chavez continued, shifting her focus to make the introductions to the young man, just as he approached. "Elisa Maza, Matt Bluestone…meet Detective Adam Gargan. I'll be leaving the rest to you."

"So…Adam? Mind telling us what's going on here?" Matt inquired as Chavez walked off to conduct other business.

"There's been a massive rash of science thefts in LA, recently," Adam explained. "All indications are that the robberies are the work of a new group that just started operating a few months ago."

"What makes you so sure these robberies are related?" Elisa asked. "High tech is big business for ANYONE who can move it."

"M.O. doesn't fit with any of the usual players," Adam answered. "Anyone else, the stuff usually gets fenced. But nothing that's been taken by THESE guys has even made a blip on the radar. They're not in it for the money. They're all about the tech. Consoles, software, weapons…the bigger, the better."

"For what?" Matt wondered. "What's the endgame?"

"If we could find whoever's in charge, we could probably answer that," Adam replied. "Unfortunately, it's been months and we're no closer to finding out who he/she/it is."

"So what brings you out here?" Elisa followed up.

"Finally caught a break," Adam responded. "One of the guys they brought in for a recent heist was some local dumb muscle. After we sweated him for a while, he happened to mention that the big boss was supposed to be heading out here to oversee expanding the operation into New York."

"The word of a two-bit hood isn't much to go on," Matt observed. "You'd think these guys would stick a little closer to home first if they were looking to branch out."

"Well, what can I tell you? These guys have no shortage on ambition," Adam replied. "Besides, with most of your big dogs like Tony Dracon cooling their heels upstate, New York's an open field now. Plenty of prime real estate for someone looking to set up shop."

"I know I didn't spend all those months getting that snake off the streets just so some other jerk could swagger in and start the whole thing over again," Elisa remarked at the very mention of Dracon's name.

"Neither did I," Matt agreed. "Alright, we're in. Now where do we start? After all, there's no shortage of high-tech in THIS town."

"What was that I heard on the radio on my way in?" Elisa mused. "Something about a science break-in at NYU last night? Might be nothing, but we could pull the file and give it a look."

"Sounds like a plan," Adam declared, heading for the doors. "Come on, we can look it over on the way."

"Uh…on the way to where?" Matt asked, he an Elisa exchanging a perplexed stare.

"Dinner. I'm starving," Adam answered plainly, only to turn around to see Elisa and Matt both giving him the same bewildered look.

"Come on, I know a place. My treat," he added, smiling and holding out his arms invitingly while Elisa and Matt could still only respond with confusion.

* * *

"Huh…doesn't look like anything here," Elisa pointed out, scanning over the file with Matt and Adam around the table at a local diner. "A few chips, some small hardware, but nothing major was taken. The guys you've been talking about have been going after MUCH bigger prizes. If the door to the lab hadn't been smashed open, I doubt anyone would have noticed that anything was even missing."

"I don't know. I mean, the fact that they smashed through the door…would someone really go to all that trouble just to take a few odds and ends? There's gotta be SOMETHING here we're missing," Matt chimed in before taking his last bite of food and turning to Adam. "Okay, you weren't kidding. These are definitely the best calzones I've ever had. How did YOU know about this place? I've been around this neighborhood for two years now and I didn't even know about it."

"Well, I'm not exactly a tourist. I DID grow up here," Adam replied, instantly getting Elisa and Matt's attention.

"You've been holding out on us," Elisa remarked.

"Not really. It's not my fault nobody asked," Adam responded before taking a longing look out the diner window, watching the people walk by. "I know the reputation this city has, but there's really nothing wrong with it. Truth is, one of the greatest people I've ever known was born here and she's never wanted to live anywhere else."

"Who's that?" Matt asked, hoping to gain a little more insight into their new teammate.

"My mother," Adam answered with a touching smile. "My father, on the other hand, hit a pretty rough patch for a while and ended up here. Didn't care for the city much until he met her…then he couldn't bear to leave."

"If they're still here, you should look them up while you're in town," Elisa suggested.

"I hope to, if I can get this over quick enough. Trust me, if they found out I chucked this case just to go see them, they'd never let me hear the end of it," Adam noted. "Still, it's getting pretty close to that time again. They have this thing where they like to renew their vows every five years."

"Hm…Truly in love, huh?" Matt inquired.

"Ah, just gluttons for punishment," Adam chuckled before he became more serious, leaning back in his chair and staring off into space. "Actually, I can't imagine what their lives would have been like if they hadn't found each other. Believe me, I've heard stories. He gave her a life she never knew was out there…and she made his life worth living again."

"Oh, I think there are some people out there that can relate," Elisa replied, a tender smile crossing her lips as her mind drifted to thoughts of her own personal situation.

Unnoticed by Elisa or Matt, Adam couldn't help but flash a coy grin as he noticed Elisa's expression. But soon, his attention turned to the check the waitress came and placed on the table.

"Nn…better get that," he thought out loud, pulling out a giant wad of bills from his jacket and muttering a count to himself as he peeled some away and placed them on the table.

"Yeah, that should cover it. We'd better get going," he stated plainly, getting up and walking away while Elisa and Matt could only exchange a wide-eyed look over what they had just seen.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Captain, that roll he pulled out was the size of my fist," Matt stated with emphasis back at the precinct as he followed Chavez alongside Elisa, both looking equally concerned. "How much do we really know about this guy, anyway?"

"He works hard, he plays hard. That's all his Captain told me," Chavez replied with a shrug. "But he also didn't have a single bad thing to say about the guy. Look, I see where you're both coming from, but we're going to do well by him until he gives us a reason not to, okay?"

"Maza," a uniformed officer at a desk called over, "Phone for you."

"Thanks," Elisa replied, putting the phone to her ear as Adam walked into the room to join Matt and Captain Chavez. "Detective Maza, NYPD…Wai-wait…look, slow down…! Who…waitaminute…When…? Who IS this…?"

"What is it?" Matt quickly asked as he hurried over with Chavez and Adam, while Elisa could only hold the phone in her hand with a confused expression.

"Anonymous tip. Some guy's saying that someone's about to hit one of Xanatos Enterprise's storage warehouses, down by the docks," Elisa answered, looking no less bewildered.

"Did they say when?" Chavez quickly followed up.

"According to the guy before he hung up, 7:30," Elisa replied.

"That's in five minutes!" Matt exclaimed, looking at his watch.

"Okay, you two go and check it out. We'll call it in and get back-up down there as quick as we can," Chavez ordered.

"Need some help?" Adam called over as Elisa and Matt were running for the door, reminding everyone that he was still in the room.

"Why not?" Elisa replied, waving him over. "Xanatos is a big mover and shaker in this town when it comes to high tech. Could be the guys you're looking for."

No sooner said than done. Seconds later, all three of them were bursting out the precinct doors, piling into Elisa's car and roaring off down the street.

* * *

Warehouses aren't generally known for being wild, bustling locations at night. With the doors locked and the vast space empty of laborers, nothing inside but its contents, it had more in common with a tomb than with a workplace. But tombs have an unfortunate history of getting raided. And for one of Xanatos Enterprises waterfront warehouses, it was also about to share that fact in common as the shattering clamor of a heavy loading truck slamming through the metal doors echoed throughout the building.

Losing control temporarily on impact, the driver had to swerve hard as he braked, sending the massive vehicle fishtailing into the first tower of crates. Fortunately, the impact was mercifully light, jarring many of the heavy containers loose, but only sending a few toppling. All the more relief for the other half-dozen members of the driver's crew as they ran in, since they no longer had to worry about digging out their escape vehicle.

"Alright, start loading up," one of the thugs called out to the others, sending them straight to work.

"Unh…man, this had better pay off," another groaned under the weight of one of the containers, heaving it onto the bed of the truck.

"Relax," the head thug replied. "We called it in, didn't we? All we have to do is make sure we keep loading and…"

"NYPD! FREEZE!" Elisa's voice echoed through the warehouse as the headlights of her car filled the room, causing the heavies to turn and see her and Matt, already with their guns drawn, with Adam close behind.

"Perfect," the first punk whispered before turning to the others. "NOW!"

At the first thug's command, the rest dove behind the heavy loader, each drawing pistols. Meanwhile, the pair at the front reached into the truck bed and pulled out a pair of heavy automatic weapons, aiming them straight at the police trio.

"You've GOT to be kidding…," Matt uttered under his breath, diving for cover with Elisa and Adam as the thieves immediately opened fire. Luckily, the heavy brick structure of the building, combined with what was left of the warehouse doors, kept them well-protected.

"This is nuts!" Matt shouted over the explosions of gunfire. "Who brings THAT kind of firepower to a B&E?"

"No way we can take them on like this!" Elisa replied, deciding that questions could wait for later. "We have to wait for back-up!"

Just then, Adam happened to streak past Matt, diving behind the rear door of Elisa's car. With that vantage point still partially protected by the Matt's passenger door that was still open, he poked his head up just barely over the edge of the window to examine the area inside.

"Adam, what are you doing?" Elisa cried out over the shattering hail of bullets, wondering what he could possibly be looking at…especially now that he was wearing a pair of sunglasses in the dark.

"There…," Adam murmured as he ducked back down to safety, firmly clutching his pistol as the gunfire continued to ring out around him. "Wait for it…come ooonnnnnnn…"

Just then, there seemed to be a pause in the gunfire. The two men with the automatic rifles had finally run out of ammunition and needed to reload. Quickly, they turned their attention to the truck, giving Adam the prime opportunity he was looking for.

"NOW!" he hollered, snapping up from behind the car door and firing his weapon at a furious pace, emptying his entire magazine in a matter of seconds.

But Adam's target was not the thieves firing on them, but at an overturned crate that was perched just over the heavy loader. Almost instantly after Adam fired, his bullets shredded through the seal on the crate, forcing the lid to fall open and sending an avalanche of computer chips on top of the group that was hidden behind the truck bed.

The two heavier men in front of the truck were easily distracted by the mass of chips burying their teammates, which gave Adam yet another opening to capitalize on. Hurdling over the car doors, he crossed the warehouse with lightning speed, bearing down on the two remaining thieves, who still had yet to reload their weapons. By the time the first heavy turned, Adam had already hurtled himself into the air. And with a great yell which sounded almost like a roar, he collided with a flying knee into the heavy's chest, driving his body into the door of the heavy loader.

The deep dent in the metal revealed as the thief crumpled to the ground showed just how powerful the impact had been as Adam had already lunged himself at the second man. Grabbing the second heavy by his jacket, Adam snarled as he whirled him around. And to Elisa and Matt's combined shock, Adam launched the second thug, a man five inches taller and at least 60 pounds heavier, into the air like a rag doll, sending him flying not only over the bed of the truck, but slamming into the crates behind it.

"Whoa…," Matt remarked, still wide-eyed. "Ooooo-kay…remind me not to get this guy ticked off,"

The remaining thugs were still trying to dig their way out of their landslide of computer chips. But they only managed to get their heads free just in time to see their heavier muscle go flying over their heads and collide with the crates behind them. And before any of them could recover their weapons, they looked up to see Adam already perched on the edge of the truck bed, looming over them like a bird of prey.

"Anyone ELSE want a piece of me?" he asked straightforwardly, even as a sinister grin crossed his lips.

Before anyone could answer, Elisa and Matt appeared from each side of the heavy loader, their guns trained and ready to fire. With no way out, the group of thugs was left with no option but to surrender.

* * *

More police sirens could be heard closing in as Elisa, Matt and Adam saw to getting the thieves cuffed and ready for booking. But just as Matt was handcuffing the second last one, the final one in the line, the one who'd been giving orders to the others, suddenly rose to his feet and made a mad dash for the doors.

"We've got a runner!" Adam shouted.

"I'm on it!" Elisa responded, taking off in pursuit, with Adam close behind.

"Hey, wait…!" Matt called after them, realizing he couldn't join the chase, as he was the only one left who could watch over the suspects.

"POLICE! FREEZE!" a uniformed officer shouted outside, jumping from his car as back-up arrived on the scene, cutting off the punk's retreat. However, the thug paid them no heed as he turned on he whirled around and instantly fled around the side of the building.

"I've got him!" Elisa shouted, still on the chase with Adam right on her heels. "Secure the rest inside!"

The darkened corridor between the warehouses eventually opened up to a fenced-off storage lot, filled with piles of shipping containers. Looking around, the escaping thug quickly realized he had stumbled into a dead end. Even if he could scale the fence before Elisa caught up with him, there was nowhere for him to go except to dive into the harbor.

"Don't even think about. One dip in that water and you're going to WISH I'd shot you," Elisa announced from behind, her gun trained on the suspect. "Did you really think you were going to get that far anyway, with this whole place surrounded by cops?"

"Heh…did you really think I was actually trying?" the thug chuckled in reply, turning to Elisa with a triumphant smirk.

At first, Elisa couldn't understand why the punk seemed so confident. Just then, she heard the familiar cocking sound of a gun overhead, and looked upward to see another thug she didn't recognize…one who wasn't with the original thieving party. He must have been a lookout for the rest. But all Elisa could think about at that moment was the high-powered rifle the gunman had in his hands, with the sniper scope trained right on her heart.

"Oh, just so you know…'Sugar'…Tony Dracon sends his regards," the gunman boasted as he prepared to fire. Just then, another gun cocked back from behind him as he suddenly felt a stiff pressure against the back of his neck.

"Don't…even…breathe," Adam uttered coldly, the barrel of his pistol pressed right against the gunman's brain-stem. Somehow, he had separated from Elisa during the chase and moved in to catch the gunman by surprise.

But the gunman didn't care to wonder why. His body tensing angrily, he whirled around, knocking Adam's gun out of his hand with the butt of the rifle and sending it skidding across the top of the shipping container. Before he could position himself to fire on Adam, however, Adam grabbed the barrel of his gun, whipping around and heaving the gunman over his shoulder. Losing his grip, the gunman was sent hurtling to the other side of the container, leaving the rifle in Adam's hands. But Adam merely tossed the rifle away, instead stalking towards his now-unarmed opponent.

"I hope you're proud of that shot," he remarked sternly as he strode forward, "Because it's the only one you get."

"Okay, let's try this again," a relieved Elisa stated, pulling out another pair of handcuffs as she made her way toward the thug on the ground.

Angrily, the punk charged forward to attack. But Elisa was on the offensive as well, running in and leaping into the air. Clipping her legs around the thug's neck in a head scissor as she grabbed his arm, the thug had no time to react as Elisa spun around hard, flipping him off his feet and slamming his head straight into the ground. With her opponent stunned and beaten, she quickly cuffed his wrists, bringing the fight to an end.

At the same time, Adam was dealing with his own attacker. Lunging forward, the gunman swung with a wild punch. But Adam quickly blocked the attack with his forearm before snapping it forward to deliver a quick jab into the gunman's face, which sent him staggering back. Pressing the advantage, Adam grabbed the gunman's arm and pulled back hard, jerking him face-first into Adam's pile driving fist. And as the blow plowed into the gunman's face, his feet flew out from under him, dropping him flat on his back.

"Told you," Adam boasted, chuckling as he pulled out another pair of handcuffs to bind the gunman.

* * *

"Sorry I had to ditch you back there," Adam said to Elisa as they led their two dazed suspects back to the waiting squad cars. "I saw the guy running across the roof and figured I'd better get the drop on HIM first."

"Hey, do you see ME complaining?" Elisa chuckled. "Huh…fast hands AND a dead eye. You're just FULL of surprises, aren't you?"

"Well, what can I say? My mom's a good teacher," Adam replied with a cryptic half-smile.

"You guy's okay?" Matt called over, running up before Elisa had time to follow up on Adam's comment.

"Couldn't be better," Elisa answered before shoving the thug she had into the arms of another officer. "Now we've got to get these guys talking as soon as possible, because we've got one more member of this crew to nail."

"Who's that?" Matt asked curiously.

"The one who planned all this," Elisa responded, an angry scowl crossing her face.

* * *

Seeing people on the other side of reinforced glass was nothing new for Tony Dracon since his conviction and imprisonment in upstate New York. So he was all-too familiar with the drill when he'd gotten word from the guards that he had a visitor. However, the grin quickly dropped from his face when he noticed that his visitors were none other than Elisa and Matt, who were both looking through the glass with stern expressions.

"Detective Maza…what a pleasant surprise to see you again," Dracon remarked, maintaining his composure.

"Oh, I just BET it is, Tony…especially after all the trouble you went through to make sure you WOULDN'T," Elisa noted with contempt before slapping a handful of papers against the glass, in front of Dracon's eyes.

"What's this supposed to be?" Dracon asked, still trying to keep his cool.

"Signed affidavits from each member of that goon squad you hired to kill me last night," Elisa replied, her voice growing angrier. "As soon as we got them into Interrogation, every single one of them gave you up."

"I guess you get what you pay for, Tony," Matt chimed in, sounding almost amused. "You should have splurged on the extra for them to keep their mouths shut. I mean, Conspiracy/Murder on a cop? Add that to what you're already in here for, you're NEVER getting out. Just thought you'd like to know."

With that, Matt and Elisa rose to leave, satisfied that they made their point. But just as they were about to reach the door, they found themselves turning back at the sound of Dracon laughing.

"I'm afraid I don't get the joke," Elisa responded coldly as Dracon continued to chuckle.

"YOU'RE the joke…'Honey'," Dracon answered, a wicked smirk crossing his face. "You have no idea what's really going on, do you?"

"Well then, pray, enlighten us, Tony," Matt inquired as he and Elisa walked back to the booth.

"Oh, you're so clueless. You think it ends with ME?" Dracon replied. "I didn't set up this little party. I just accepted the invitation."

"Meaning what?" Elisa shot back.

"It's out all over, Sugar. And it's spreading fast. Somebody put out a contract on you a couple of nights ago," Dracon explained. "And rumor has it, the guy who did is also the same one who got your boy, Castaway, all freaked out the other night, too."

"Really," Elisa replied cynically. "And just how high a contract are we talking?"

"Numbers are pretty much all over the place," Dracon answered with a shrug. "But I've heard it going as high as 20 million."

"Oh…you're really pushing your luck if you expect us to swallow THAT, Tony," Matt exclaimed, rolling his eyes as he and Elisa turned to leave again. "It CAN'T be anyone THAT big."

"Hey, I never SAID you had to believe me, but it's not gonna change anything! Someone out there has got a SERIOUS mad-on for your partner. And they're willing to pay TOP DOLLAR to see her take a dirt nap," Dracon protested before turning his attention back to Elisa, smirking into her scowling face. "And with THOSE numbers, pretty soon you'll have half of New York hunting you down, looking for a quick payday. Even with your little flying freaks watching your back, it won't be long before SOMEBODY-TAKES-YOU-OUT…"

"…And you know something? That may be the most satisfying thought I've had in a very…VERY… long time."

* * *

"HYAAAH!"

A shrill voice cried out as a brief metallic flash pierced the air, slicing the head cleanly off a nearby marble bust. And as the head finally rolled to a stop, Hyena slowly strode up to it, watching the saw blades in her cybernetic arms grind to a stop before a wicked grin of satisfaction crossed her lips.

"Oh yes, diamond carbide-tipped blades," she remarked, lifting her leg straight up before bringing it down and smashing the severed marble head to bits. "I just LOVE the sound of a good upgrade in the morning."

"Well, you'd better take the time and savor it," Jackal replied at his computer, having a hard time enjoying the classical music piping through the room of an undisclosed villa over Hyena's commotion. "That's the last one we're going to be able to afford for a while…not to mention the last piece of priceless marble artwork."

"Oh, please, Brother. Do you ALWAYS have to cry poverty?" Hyena complained, retracting the saws back into her arms.

"Well, SOMEONE has to make sure the books are balanced," Jackal argued. "If we'd left it up to YOU, you'd have blown through all our money in a month."

"Oh, pick, pick, pick," Hyena muttered, her voice trailing off. "Sometimes I don't know why I don't just…"

"Well now, this is interesting," Jackal pointed out as an electronic notice came up on his computer. "Okay Sister, you want me to put a stop to the penny-pinching? How would you like to make 20 million dollars for just one job?"

"Wha…20 MILLION?" Hyena shouted, dashing over to the computer. "Who do I have to KILL?"

"Funny you should ask," Jackal answered with an amused grin, slowly scaling down the page with the mouse.

As the image appeared on the screen, Hyena could only look on with surprise at first, her eyes going wide. But it took only moments before the idea slowly began to sink into her head. And a wicked smile of satisfaction slowly spread wide across her lips as she gazed intently at the familiar police photo on the screen, along with the instantly recognizable name emblazoned in large, bold letters underneath…

ELISA MAZA


	3. Chapter 3

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Part Three  
By Aaron

"Well, this was where we lost him," the armored young man noted to the female Gargoyle as they made their way through the old subway tunnel, back to the spot where their teammate had disappeared. "So this SHOULD be the best place we have for this working."

"And just how are we supposed to get it TO work?" the Gargoyle wondered.

"Well…apparently, all it is is just out of power. It should be good as new again after a quick recharge." the man replied, carefully examining the small, metal cube in his fingertips before closing it into his fist.

Closing his eyes, the young man centered himself, breathing deeply and concentrating hard. Within seconds, a faint glow could be seen emanating from his closed hand.

"Are you absolutely certain you know what you're doing?" the Gargoyle had to ask, as each passing moment only fueled her growing concern.

"Not even close, now that you mention it…," the young man replied in a straightforward manner, which didn't make his Gargoyle friend feel any better.

Just then, as if sensing something, he opened his eyes and looked down. And sure enough, as soon as he opened his hand, both he and his companion could see that the metallic cube had softly begun to illuminate on its own.

"…But at this point, I think it's pretty safe to say I've done SOMETHING."

Just then, the cube sprang to life, much in the same fashion as the pair had seen earlier. Moments later, several trails of twinkling lights began to swirl all around them, eventually beginning to close in.

"Cross everything you can…because I sure hope this works," he remarked with a hint of worry, looking around as the glittering trails converged, causing them both to vanish in a brief, split-second flash.

* * *

"Are we sure this is legit?" Hyena asked as she and Jackal walked out of the terminal at LaGuardia International Airport, both dressed in long coats and hats so as to try and not attract attention. "I mean, come on, 20 million to whack Maza? Who'd hate her THAT much?"

"A 10-hour flight into New York and this only crossed your mind just NOW?" Jackal replied in annoyance. "I DID have the sense to check this all out before we set off, you know. The message came with an electronic link to the account where the money is being stored. Unfortunately, the link only allowed me to VIEW the account, not interact with it. So if we actually want that money in our hands, we're going to have to deliver."

"And we have only THEIR word that they're going to pay us once the job is done?" Hyena noted. "I'm not a big fan of the whole 'Anonymous Donor' routine."

"If you don't like it, we can always get back on the plane and leave," Jackal responded.

"Are you kidding?" Hyena remarked with a wicked grin, snipping the claws on her first two fingers like a pair of scissors. "It IS Maza, after all."

* * *

"Captain, you CAN'T be serious!" Elisa exclaimed, slamming her hands down on Chavez's desk.

"As…a…heart attack," Chavez replied sternly as Matt backed away, keeping himself out of the conflict. "Until we find out whether this threat against your life is genuine, I'm taking you off rotation. I don't want you out there where every lowlife in town can get a free shot at you."

"You DO realize that you're basing this all on the word of Tony Dracon, right?" Elisa noted.

"Which is the only reason you're not sitting in your apartment right now, surrounded by half of New York S.W.A.T.," Chavez added.

"Come on, Captain, this is hardly the first time Dracon and I have butted heads," Elisa argued cynically. "I bet even money he only said it to get under my skin because his hitters screwed up."

"Add that to two attempts on your life in 48 hours. You want to go all-in on THOSE odds?" Chavez pointed out. "Detective Bluestone has already given me his assessment of your run-in with the Quarrymen the other night and I think his theory is sound."

"Great," Elisa muttered, tossing a disapproving frown in Matt's direction. "So I'm supposed to just let Dracon chuckle in prison while he pictures me huddled on the floor of my apartment, whimpering like a kitten?"

"All nothing compared to the jollies he'll get if he sees your death on the evening news," Chavez pointed out straightforwardly.

"Captain…," Elisa was about to bicker on. But her words were cut off as Chavez, finally having had enough, snapped up from her chair and angrily stared her down.

"Maza, we are NOT having this argument! You're one of my best cops, this thing is happening and I am simply NOT going to permit it!" she shouted before taking a moment to center herself, sitting back down and starting to leaf through a file on her desk. "Now, you've got some personal time coming. I suggest you take it."

There didn't seem to be anything more Elisa could do. Knowing she had no way of overturning Chavez's decision, she merely turned and walked out of the room. But that still didn't mean she was about to let Matt off the hook.

"Thanks a lot…'partner'." she grumbled in frustration, after closing the door to Chavez's office.

"Don't you even THINK about taking this out on ME!" Matt argued as Elisa began to storm off. "Just how many bullets did you think you were going to keep dodging, anyway?"

"So your solution was to get the Captain to take me out of the game?" Elisa yelled back. "Why couldn't you have just left it alone?"

"Because right now, you're thinking with your HEART, not with your HEAD!" Matt exclaimed, dragging Elisa off to a secluded corner before lowering his voice. "Yeah, I get it, you're mad, you want to go out there and find this guy. But there's more to it than that…because you know there are a few others who are going to want to do something about this once they find out, right? And I know how you get, Elisa. You'd throw yourself under a bus in a heartbeat to keep anyone you care about from getting hurt because YOU'RE jammed up. But you haven't played the tape to the end. You haven't thought about all the ones who'd still have to be here without you when it was all over. Do you think your parents would think that's a fair trade? Or your brother and sister…?"

"…Do you think GOLIATH would think that's a fair trade?"

Elisa could only shut her eyes tight and look away with a scowl, clenching her fists tightly as Matt said his piece. Deep down, she knew Matt was right in what he was saying. But at the same time, she still couldn't contain her anger over what was happening…anger that she wanted nothing more than to direct at the person responsible for bringing this maelstrom into her life.

"I'm not going to run and hide, Matt," she asserted quietly, still looking away.

"Then don't. But if you're going to get pro-active, at least be smart about it," Matt replied, putting his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "With you off-shift, your movements can't be monitored. That means no one is going to know where you are at any given moment…"

"…So ask yourself…do you think that makes you LESS dangerous…or MORE dangerous?"

Elisa's eyes widened slightly, looking over at Matt's reassuring grin. And once it began to sink in that he was still on her side, Elisa had to respond with a determined smile of her own.

"I suppose you've got a plan?" she asked.

"First, there's something you should see," Matt answered, leading Elisa to the precinct doors. "I checked it out this morning, before I went home."

"Hey guys!" a familiar voice called out as they turned to see Adam trotting up toward them. "Ready to hit it?"

"Uh, yeah, we need to talk about that," Elisa nervously began to say, "See, I've just been…"

"Actually, Elisa and I just got a lead on another case we're working," Matt chimed in, cutting her off. "We've gotta go run it down before it gets cold. But you can check out some of the more recent case files until we get back, see if anything fits your pattern."

"Matt, wait…," Elisa started to protest, only to have Matt take her shoulders and lead her outside.

"Hm…," Adam could only utter, raising a curious eyebrow.

"There she is," Hyena whispered as she and Jackal watched Elisa and Matt walking outside the precinct from a nearby rooftop. "So…what are we waiting for? Let's get this over with and get paid already. I can practically TASTE that 20 million now."

"Take her out in front of a police station…another one of your brilliant ideas," Jackal replied sarcastically. "Let's let the entire NYPD know it was us so we can spend the rest of our lives hunted down like DOGS. Surely, a more favorable opportunity can be found elsewhere. In the meantime…"

Just then, a small compartment popped from Jackal's wrist, allowing him to fire a small tracer straight toward Elisa's car. The tag hit dead on, right on the rear bumper, unbeknownst to Elisa and Matt, who were coming up on it, just a few seconds later.

"Why did you lie to him?" Elisa had to ask, once they reached her car.

"Just drive," Matt answered sternly as they got inside, clearly wanting to get as far away from Adam as possible. "You'll find out when we get there."

"Get where?" Elisa wondered, becoming more and more perplexed, even though it didn't stop her from shifting into gear.

As Elisa and Matt drove off, Jackal and Hyena maintained an attentive watch from the rooftop. Hyena, for one, was beginning to grow quite impatient. But Jackal, on the other hand, couldn't be more satisfied as another compartment opened up from his opposite arm to reveal a small radar screen. And as it revealed quite clearly that the tracer he'd attached to Elisa's car was working perfectly, an evil smile slowly curled across his lips.

* * *

Another sunset was descending upon the city as a terrified Elmore Rollins once again made his long walk through the Nightstone Enterprises building, up the elevator and once again to Dominique Destine's office. He'd been working feverishly to uncover who it was that appeared to have embezzled 20 million dollars from the company. But although he'd made some headway, he was still in no hurry to go back and face Dominique again…certainly not after his horrific encounter the evening before. The only thing that forced him to swallow hard and even open the door was that he feared even more what would happen to him if he didn't go in to report his findings.

"You're late!" Dominique snapped at him before he could even walk in the door.

"I'm…I'm terribly sorry…Miss Destine," Rollins stuttered in fright, fortifying all his willpower to keep from running away. "I…was…running down a few leads and…"

"I'm not interested in your excuses!" Dominique shot back. "Whatever you have, it better be brief and it better be good!"

"Yes…well…," Rollins muttered, loosening his tie and swallowing hard. "I…discovered a digital fingerprint in the transfer request. I ran that…fingerprint down to an…unlisted account number and…found out…that same account was used…to…open a…safe deposit box…at a local bank downtown. Here's…everything I have…so far."

His body trembling, Rollins tentatively reached to hand Dominique the file, only to snap back instantly as she snatched it from his hand. But a moment later, he noticed an instant change in her expression as she leafed through the file. Her once stern, intimidating demeanor had shifted to a look of almost pure…confusion as her eyes went wide in astonishment.

"This is…ALL the data you have?" she asked, a tone of surprise lingering in her voice.

"Uh…y-yes…," Rollins answered nervously.

"Okay," Dominique responded, her tone of voice immediately softening. "At this point, I'll be dealing with this matter, personally. And I'll be trusting you to discuss whatever you've found with no one. If word got out that this much money was stolen from the company…"

"I…I understand," Rollins agreed, nodding heavily

Dominique maintained her composure as Rollins quickly backed his way out the door. But as soon as the door closed, an angry scowl crossed her face as she snapped the file back open once again. Memorizing one number in particular, her eyes instantly flashed red with anger. And a moment later, she closed the file and shoved the whole thing, contents and all, into a paper shredder next to her desk.

Walking back to the elevator, Rollins could only breathe a sigh of relief. That session ended much better than he'd expected. He got the sense that Dominique knew much more than she was letting on, as soon as she'd seen the information he'd collected. But he was just so relieved to have gotten out of there, he wasn't about to push his luck by prying…especially considering that demonic screech he heard once again just as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

"Detective Maza," Xanatos greeted inside his main office in the Eyrie Building, surrounded by Fox, Owen, Alexander and the entire Gargoyle clan. "So glad to see that you're safe and sound."

"Yeah," Lexington added. "Matt brought us all up to speed on the details."

"Nnn…I just BET he did," Elisa grumbled, tossing another dirty look in Matt's direction.

"Aw, come on Elisa, don't be like that," Broadway argued. "You're in trouble, aren't you? Did you really think anyone here was gonna stay out of this?"

With that, the rest of the clan instantly chimed in, all offering their own arguments at the exact same time. As they all closed in on her, Elisa found her gaze drifting over towards Goliath and Hudson, who had stayed back and remained silent. Of course, they hardly had to give her their own scolding lectures over the din…especially Goliath. His knowing gaze as he looked into Elisa's eyes made it clear that the rest of the clan was already providing more than enough debate.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Elisa shouted over the commotion, quieting everyone down as she threw up her hands in submission. "Calm down! I do OCCASIONALLY know when I'm licked. Now I assume Matt directed me here because someone's got something."

"After the Dracon robbery a couple of years ago, Xanatos Enterprises has increased surveillance on all of its warehouses and shipments along the waterfront." Xanatos explained as he walked over to Owen, who was already calling up security footage for viewing on the main screen. "At Detective Bluestone's request, we pulled all the footage from last nights little escapade. And I think you'll agree that what we found was something quite interesting. Owen, if you'll do the honors?"

Without a word, Owen began to play the footage, which came on the main wall screen for everyone to see. And as the scene played out, more than one angry pair of eyes in the room looked on to see the gunman from the night before skulking along top of the shipping containers, getting ready to ambush Elisa.

"That's the guy from last night, alright," Elisa noted, "So what am I supposed to be looking at? We already KNEW it was a setup."

"Check the time stamp on the footage. This guy was setting up at least a good 10 minutes before we even got there," Matt replied, pointing at the screen, "Now Adam, the guy who APPARENTLY saved your life, said he saw the shooter running across the roof in your direction while you were both chasing the other guy, right?"

"But…if this footage is right…then the shooter was already there," Lexington deduced, finishing Matt's thought. "He couldn't have seen the guy when he says he did."

"Huh," Elisa uttered, not entirely sure what to think. "Well…could the time on the footage be off? It wouldn't be the first time we've seen that."

"That was actually the first thing I checked," Matt answered before turning in Owen's direction. "Fast-forward."

With that, Owen skipped the footage ahead. Seconds later, it slowed back down to the point where Elisa had appeared in the yard behind the warehouse, chasing the criminal that had tried to run.

"Okay, here it is, about five minutes after we got there. So here you come…the trap gets sprung…," Matt commented as the footage played out of the gunman preparing to shoot Elisa, only to be thwarted by Adam approaching from off-screen. "And now, two seconds later, here comes OUR boy."

The rest of the footage played out pretty much as Elisa remembered it. However, for Elisa, looking almost entranced by what she was seeing, the outcome was irrelevant. This new fact Matt was presenting her with added a whole new wrinkle to what she originally thought was a cut-and-dry situation.

"He lied," she uttered with a confused shrug. "Why?"

"I've got a better question," Matt answered. "If he didn't see guy, how did he KNOW he was on top of that shipping container?"

"It would appear that there is more to this…'Adam'…than meets the eye," Goliath grumbled uncomfortably as Elisa turned back to the screen with a stern glare.

* * *

"Okay, I just got off the phone with Captain Chavez," Matt announced while everyone else was huddled around computers and screens, trying to make sense out of the situation. "The entire precinct's looked and nobody's seen Gargan since we left."

"We've run a full search, but there's no record of an 'Adam Gargan' listed as staying at any hotel with computer records," Owen added.

"Well, he HAS to be somewhere. He's not just sleeping on the streets. We've gotta find this guy and get some questions answered," Elisa muttered in frustration before a sudden stab of pain shot through her side, causing her to wince. "Nnn…!"

"You okay?" Matt asked as he and Fox looked on curiously, both close enough to notice Elisa's reaction.

"I'll be fine," Elisa answered quietly, shutting her eyes tight and bearing the sensation until it subsided. "I guess I must have pulled something when I took that guy down last night. Next time, I'll leave the acrobatics to the circus."

"If it's that bad, you should think about getting some rest," Matt suggested. "I'm sure a place this big, there's got to be SOMEPLACE you can crash."

"Hm…I'll sleep when HE sleeps," Elisa replied, glancing over in Goliath's direction as he viewed the monitor screen, studying Adam's features intently.

"Well, that's very devoted, but not very smart," Fox remarked as she cradled Little Alexander in her arms. "You're no good to him hurt."

"Would you do any less for HIM?" Elisa argued, tossing her gaze over in Xanatos' direction, while he and Owen continued to search for any computer trace of Adam's location.

"Touché," Fox admitted with a smirk. "I guess that makes us BOTH idiots, huh?"

"Hey…I can think of worse things to be stupid over," Elisa chuckled under her breath.

Matt couldn't help but toss an uneasy look towards the conversation Fox and Elisa were having. There was just something a little unsettling about seeing two people talking so casually, who would have easily been at each others' throats not two years ago. Of course, if he knew what was going on just a few buildings away, he would have quickly found something else to worry about as Jackal and Hyena both crept along a nearby rooftop.

"So this is where she ran to," Jackal noted, observing his radar screen before turning his gaze towards the Eyrie Building. "I'd be lying if I said THAT surprised me."

"Well, what are we waiting for? We know where she is! Let's DO this already!" Hyena declared impatiently, which only drew an exasperated sigh from her brother as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You know, I have always carried a certain measure of pride in never demanding much from you, dear sister. But it would be SO nice…if JUST once…you could at least PRETEND to have a brain that actually FUNCTIONS!" Jackal scolded angrily. "You honestly want to just storm the EYRIE BUILDING? Even if by some MIRACLE, we got past Goliath and his clan, Fox and Xanatos would have what was LEFT of us for LUNCH!"

"Oh, and I suppose YOU have a BETTER idea, is that it?" Hyena argued.

"Is that EVEN a question?" Jackal answered back smugly. "You remember that Electro-Lance upgrade I requested for you a few months ago?"

"Ooohhhh yeah," Hyena replied hungrily, cackling as her forefinger stretched out, sparkling with electricity. "This little baby's so powerful now it could take out a target from AT LEAST half a mile away."

"That's just what I was hoping you'd say," Jackal remarked, a sinister smirk crossing his face.

* * *

It wasn't long before Matt had to return to the precinct and get back to work, leaving the search for Adam to the others. But after losing count of all the failed attempts that had been made to track him down, everyone eventually had to take a step back from the search. Hopefully, giving their minds some time to unplug would give them a chance to come back to the situation with fresh eyes.

Of course, Goliath was all too happy to oblige, offering to accompany Elisa on a stroll along the Eyrie Building promenade beneath the Castle Wyvern foundation. And under normal circumstances, the romantic night view of the entire city through the promenade windows and the feeling of Goliath holding her hand would surely have been enough to make Elisa feel quite content. But this time, Elisa just couldn't escape the events of the last few nights, still lingering in the back of her mind, like the sting of a fresh cut.

"It looks so peaceful from up here, doesn't it?" Elisa noted as she viewed the New York skyline with worry. "Looking out, it's almost impossible to think that out of all those millions of lights twinkling down there, one of them actually represents someone who wants me dead. And I have absolutely no idea why."

"I…hope you're not still angry with Bluestone for telling us what had happened," Goliath mentioned softly.

"No…not really…," Elisa sighed, pausing to take Goliath's hands in hers before looking up into his eyes. "I guess…Look, you know I've never been short on gratitude when it comes to the quick saves, right? But at the same time…I've just never been one of those girls who could always play the damsel in distress, either."

"I don't think ANYONE would ever be foolish enough to mistake you for THAT," Goliath answered with a warm smile, reaching up to tenderly brush the back of his fingers along Elisa's cheek. "But you know…it's never a weakness to ask for help when you need it. And it's never a burden when those who CAN help are willing to provide it…"

"…especially when…for some of us…the alternative is unthinkable."

"Hm…you know Matt said almost the same thing to me, earlier tonight," Elisa chuckled before throwing her arms around Goliath's neck and pulling herself up to eye level with a loving grin. "But I liked how YOU said it better."

Relieved to see Elisa finally appearing more at ease, Goliath reached up and puts his hands on her hips, holding her up as he briefly opened his wings to close them in around her. And as Elisa felt the warmth of Goliath's wings surrounding her like a warm blanket, suddenly the reality of her situation seemed very far away as she leaned in, nuzzling against his nose before pressing her forehead to his and looking deeply into his eyes.

* * *

"Eeeeeuuuuchh!" Jackal uttered from several buildings away, his cybernetic eye mounted on Hyena's wrist zooming in to watch the moment between Goliath and Elisa play out. "If this gets anymore syrupy, it's going to start giving me a craving for pancakes."

"Well then, don't just stand there! Take the shot, why don't you?" Hyena complained as Jackal kept subtly manipulating her arm into the proper angle. "I can feel the pistons in my shoulder seizing up already!"

"In a moment," Jackal assured. "Just another…slight…adjustment…there!"

At that moment, Hyena's finger extended, ready to unleash her Electro-Lance weapon at the exact angle Jackal had set. And Jackal had set it at just the right angle, so that the blast would not only hit Elisa square in the head, but also Goliath as well.

"And so it goes…two birds with one stone," Jackal stated triumphantly as his eye intently watched Elisa and Goliath slowly leaning in to kiss.

"One for business," Hyena added, as she prepared to fire. "And one for pleasure."

Just then, a series of soft footsteps could be heard dashing across the roof behind them. Before either Jackal or Hyena could think to react, a figure had already leaped through the air, driving a pair of knees into them both. Sent sprawling, Hyena's Electro-Lance blast fired wild, not even coming close to hitting Elisa and Goliath, but smashing through the promenade windows of the Eyrie Building and slamming into the foundation of Castle Wyvern, sending an avalanche of rubble down on top of them. Luckily, Goliath was able to recover from his shock just in time to race Elisa to safety, just before the debris could bury them.

Of course, they weren't the only ones feeling the jolt from Jackal and Hyena's failed attack. Putting Little Alexander down for a nap in the nursery, Xanatos, Fox, Owen and Lexington were all surprised when the sudden tremor from the impact went off, just under their feet.

"What was THAT?" Fox exclaimed, looking as perplexed as everyone else.

Meanwhile, Jackal and Hyena found themselves asking the exact same question as they slowly recovered from their mysterious assailant. But who they saw only raised more questions than answers as they both looked up to see Adam Gargan standing over them just a few short yards away, wearing his sunglasses and smirking with amusement.

"I sure hope you left a note for your loves ones, Kid!" Hyena snarled, brandishing her claws as she charged towards Adam, "Because you just committed suicide!"

Adam, however, spoke not a word, but merely stood his ground as Hyena moved in. Effortlessly slipping around her claws as she slashed at him, Adam whirled behind her and grabbed a manual switch on Hyena's back, twisting it hard and activating her rocket jets, which immediately fired at full strength. A yelping Hyena was then launched into the sky, with a grinning Adam hanging off of her and holding on tight.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Goliath exclaimed as Elisa shook herself out of her daze.

"I'm fine," Elisa answered, trying to get her bearings. "But where did that even come from?"

As if in response to Elisa's question, a screaming Hyena came blasting through the hole in the promenade windows, with Adam riding on top of her. Somehow, he'd managed to mount her back while they were flying wildly and was pulling on her arms to guide her direction of flight. And after sending Hyena torpedoing through the promenade a few moments longer, he jumped off, leaving Hyena to slam into the ground at top speed, while he, himself, landed on his feet and skidded to a gentle stop.

"And he sticks the dismount!" he announced proudly, holding up his arms. "You just KNOW the judges had to be impressed by that!"

"Adam?" Elisa blurted out as Goliath stepped forward to protect her, neither of them knowing what to expect.

* * *

"It's Hyena!" Angela called out, bursting into the nursery with the rest of the clan to get Lexington. "She's in the promenade, where Goliath and Elisa are!"

"If Hyena's here, Jackal has to be running around SOMEWHERE close by," Lexington noted unhappily.

"They're in MY HOME?" Fox shouted, storming toward the door in a rage. "If those two think they're getting away with this, they really ARE crazy!"

"Whoa! Fox, wait! Leave it us! We can handle them!" Lexington interrupted, barring Fox's way before pointing to the playpen behind her. "Besides, you KNOW where you need to be."

One look at Little Alexander's frightened face was all Fox needed to be convinced that Lexington was right. Still, her scrunched-up scowl and tightly balled fists made it clear that it was taking everything she had to keep her fury from driving her wild.

"Make it fast," she hissed angrily, "Before I change my mind."

* * *

Coughing and sputtering dirt and grass from the promenade grove, Hyena struggled to get back to her feet. It took her another few moments to shake out the cobwebs, but once she got her bearings, she looked over to see Adam standing just a few yards away with a confident grin across his face.

"Again?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders in amusement.

Snarling, Hyena darted straight towards Adam, her claws eager to taste blood. But she only managed to get a few steps before a gunshot rang out, sending a bullet drilling into the ground in front of her feet and stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Hold it, Hyena!" Elisa called out as Hyena whirled around with a wide-eyed glare, only to see Elisa's gun trained squarely on her and Goliath's imposing figure standing right beside her as backup. "I may not know what's going on here, but I know you still have SOME parts that aren't bullet-proof!"

For a moment, the action ground to a halt, as each party was trying to figure out exactly what they wanted to do next. But before any moves could be made, Elisa's eyes suddenly went wide. Screaming in pain, she collapsed to her knees, doubling over and clutching her stomach.

"Elisa! What's wrong?" Goliath shouted in panic, instantly kneeling to her side.

"I…I don't know…! I don't know…! I just…AAAAHAAAAAANNNH!" Elisa cried out, writhing on the ground in agony.

"Well, well…somebody down there likes me," Hyena remarked with a wicked smile, quickly getting over her surprise at what was happening. "This might just be an easy payday after all."

Taking advantage of Elisa's sudden affliction and Goliath's distraction, Hyena charged in to strike. But her attention was quickly diverted as Adam leaped in front of her, whipping his foot around in mid-air to deliver a spinning kick. Luckily for Hyena, she was able to stop in time and throw up her arm to defend herself. But the force of the impact was still enough to send her skidding back along the ground a few steps, which was enough to give Hyena pause, her eyes growing wide with astonishment.

"Eyes on all sides, Hyena! They're not the only ones you should be paying attention to!" Adam announced before turning his attention to Goliath. "Get her out of here, NOW! She's a sitting duck like this!"

Goliath hardly needed to be told what only came naturally to him. Grabbing Elisa in his arms, he tore off up the stairs, hoping to get her to safety and, with any luck, medical attention.

"Not gonna happen!" Hyena growled, tearing off after them.

But once again, Adam appeared to block her path. Enough was enough. With a yell of rage, Hyena lashed out, only to have Adam dodge her strike with almost no effort. From there, it was a flurry of blows as Adam dodged every single one of Hyena's attacks, with Hyena growing angrier with each passing second that Adam held her off. After all, how could this kid possibly be a match for her cybernetic body?

It was that moment that Jackal happened to arrive on the scene. Flying in through the hole in the windows, it only took a few seconds of observation to quickly realize what was happening. And he didn't like it one bit. Not only had Goliath escaped with Elisa, not only was the entire Eyrie building now aware of their presence, but Hyena was still getting nowhere in dealing with this interloper who had suddenly decided to include himself into their plans.

"This is NOT what I wanted," he muttered in frustration as he activated one of his arm missiles, preparing to fire on Adam, who was still preoccupied with Hyena. But his attempt was quickly thwarted as Angela, Broadway and Brooklyn swooped in, tackling him out of the sky, with Lexington and Hudson close behind.

* * *

Even through the stone walls of Castle Wyvern, the sounds of the battle below could be heard inside Little Alexander's nursery, with Xanatos, Fox and Owen waiting patiently to see if their efforts would be required in time. But they soon had something else to focus on as Goliath burst through the doors, with Elisa in his arms, still groaning and screaming.

"Goliath, what happened?" Xanatos exclaimed, running over with Fox. "Is she hurt?"

"I…I don't know…," Goliath shuddered as he laid Elisa down on the floor, a paralyzing fear gripping his heart. "She…she just collapsed…"

"Owen, call my personal physician!" Fox ordered. "Then contact Talon and the Mazas! I want them all here now!"

"Go…Goliath…AAH!" Elisa whimpered, desperately reaching to him with her hand before letting out another tortured yell.

"Elisa…," Goliath uttered as he held her hand with his eyes welling up and his entire body trembling, knowing he had no way to help her. Just then, he felt a hand press firmly against his chest and looked up to see Fox, staring into his eyes with a deathly seriousness.

"It's okay. We've got her," she stated methodically. "But now, it's time for you to focus. Understand? Listen to me. Do…what you need…to do."

Steady under pressure…despite her temper, that was always one feature that described Fox to a tee. Small wonder that she was hand-picked by Xanatos to be in charge of The Pack back in the day. As the sounds of battle caught his ears once again, Goliath had to admit that she was right. At that moment, he had other priorities.

And yet, another cry of pain from Elisa instantly wrenched his heart. As much as Goliath knew where he needed to be, Elisa's torment was impossible for him to ignore. At that moment, his eyes snapped open with a fierce glow, his face twisted in agonizing rage as he whirled around and thundered down the hall with a roar, back towards the fighting. Maybe there was nothing he could do to ease Elisa's suffering, or his own. But at least he knew who he could take it all out on.

"Even I wouldn't have wanted to be on the other end of THAT look," Xanatos remarked with a wide-eyed gaze before turning his attention back to Elisa.

"And that, my darling, is exactly why I'm glad the two of you are FINALLY starting to get along now," Fox noted as she and Xanatos worked to help Elisa to her feet.

* * *

Back down in the promenade, the battle between Jackal, Hyena and the clan continued to rage. Jackal had managed to keep himself in the air after the initial attack by the Gargoyles and using his rocket's to give himself the tactical edge and keep out of harm's way. But Hyena, meanwhile, had her own focus as she stayed on the ground, still viciously hacking away at Adam, yet remaining unable to land a single hit. Gradually their tussle was taking them farther and farther away from Jackal and the clan. But it wasn't enough to escape Lexington's eyes as he peered down from above and saw the action taking place.

"Come on, you little twerp!" Hyena shrieked as Adam continued to weave around her attacks. "Stop dancing around and FIGHT me already!"

"You want a fight, Hyena?" Lexington called down as he dove in from the air, slamming his full weight into Hyena's body. And before Hyena could recover, Lexington was already lifting her up over his head.

"Will I do?"

"Gee, I don't know. This one looks kinda runty," Hyena replied smugly as her legs detached from her hip sockets, wrapping around Lexington's waist with crushing force, forcing him to let her go. And while Lexington struggled free himself, Hyena's torso and legs recombined, leaving Hyena looming overhead, brandishing her claws as she took Lexington's back.

"Normally, you'd throw something like this back," she added, her legs squeezing Lexington even harder and forcing him to cry out. "But I think it'll make for some pretty good chum!"

Before Hyena could strike, however, Adam raced in from behind, grabbing her arm and heaving her over his shoulder, with Lexington still in tow. However, Hyena's legs flailed open, sending Lexington flying out of her grip and slamming into a nearby wall.

"Oooooo…sorry!" Adam called out to Lexington, who could only lie, groaning, in a bush. "Collateral damage!"

"The only one you should be worried about getting damaged is YOU!" Hyena growled, snapping to her feet. "You should've taken off when you had the chance!"

"Pretty lucid talk for someone who nearly got her head kicked off," Adam commented sarcastically.

"And just when did that happen?" Hyena shot back.

"Oh, sorry," Adam answered, looking at his wrist. "My watch is 15 seconds fast."

Snarling in anger, Hyena charged forward again, wanting nothing more than to cleave Adam's face, clean off. But Adam was already well aware of his surroundings, maneuvering himself back towards one of the largest trees in the grove. So as Hyena struck, he whirled out of the way and her claws drove hard into the trunk. Frantically, Hyena tried to get free, only to see that Adam was moving to her other side. Instinctively, Hyena lashed out with her other arm, but again, her attack was a failure. An advantage that Adam was quick to press, landing an axe kick square onto her free hand and stamping it hard into the ground. And before Hyena knew what was happening, she had been successfully pinned down, with Adam leaning in close.

"You know it really is a shame that you had to go and do all this to yourself," Adam remarked with a sigh, looking over Hyena's cybernetic body. "Confidentially, between you and Fox, I always thought YOU were the really hot one."

There was nothing Hyena could say in response. She didn't have time. The next thing she remembered seeing was Adam's roundhouse kick flashing across her face.

Even if Jackal could see what was going on between Adam and Hyena, there was nothing he could do to help her. He had problems of his own. At one point, he chanced to fly low over the grove, which gave Bronx the chance to strike, leaping into the air and clamping his jaws firmly around Jackal's foot. The added weight was more than Jackal's rockets could compensate for, keeping him hovering in the air, but unable to achieve any more lift. And the distraction allowed Broadway, Angela and Brooklyn to make another move, slamming into Jackal and finally tackling him to the ground.

"Come on, hold him!" Brooklyn shouted, with Hudson charging in to support them as Jackal struggled to get out from under three Gargoyles and their Beast.

"This…is not…what I…WANTED!" Jackal ultimately shouted at the top of his lungs as he activated an unexpected new upgrade, sending a surge of electricity suddenly ripping from his arms and exploding in a great dome all around him.

Brooklyn, Broadway, Angela and Bronx were all violently jolted from the electrical flow before the force of the blast sent them all flying. Immediately Hudson leaped in, trying to keep Jackal pinned down before he regained any momentum. But a livid Jackal was already moving to counter, blocking Hudson's sword arm and driving an open palm squarely into his chest, sending a bolt of electricity racing through Hudson's body as well, before whirling him around and tossing him into Brooklyn and Broadway, who were still trying to recover.

With a wild glare, Jackal turned his arm missile on Hudson, Broadway and Brooklyn, eager to get as many obstacles out of his way as possible. But his efforts proved fruitless as Goliath leapt down from the upper walkway, roaring in fury. Slamming his fists into the ground, Goliath unleashed small tremor that tore through the earth of the grove and sent Jackal stumbling off his feet before he could fire.

"THIS MADNESS ENDS NOW!" Goliath bellowed, his voice echoing through the promenade before rampaging forward to attack.

Scowling in anger and frustration, Jackal no longer cared about strategies, charging in to meet Goliath head-on. And as Goliath raised his fists to deliver a crushing blow, Jackal slammed both hands into Goliath's chest, tearing into him with yet another wave of electricity. And as he howled in pain, Goliath's attack seemed to be well and truly stopped, falling to one knee within seconds as Jackal gladly kept up the pressure.

Yet, as angry as Jackal thought he was, it was nothing compared to the wildfire running unchecked in Goliath's soul. In spite of the searing electrical energy Jackal was coursing through him, Goliath managed to force himself back to his feet. And with his eyes blazing in fury, he reached up, grabbing Jackal's arms and squeezing with all his might. Within moments, Jackal's arms began to buckle under the crushing pressure, eventually sending a feedback surge ripping through his entire body. Letting out a shuddering cry, Jackal completely seized up as circuits and components began blowing out all over his cybernetic parts, overloaded by the electrical discharge. Jackal would then grow silent seconds later, crumpling to his knees and collapsing to the ground in a convulsing heap.

While Goliath was disposing of Jackal, Lexington was finally shaking himself out of his painful daze. Looking up to see what had happened, he saw Adam standing over him, flashing an amused half-grin.

"Come on, Slim. Let's get you up on your feet," he invited, holding out his hand for Lexington to take.

"Goliath, are you alright?" Angela asked with concern as she ran up alongside Bronx, just as the rest of the clan was getting to their feet.

"I'm fine," Goliath replied curtly, the traces of anger still lingering in his voice as he looked around with a growl. "Where is Hyena?"

"Yeah, the little lady's had a pretty rough night, she's just taking a little nap, now," Adam piped up from behind Lexington as he came in, carrying Hyena over his shoulder and dumping her unceremoniously beside her brother.

"I cannot believe the two of them actually tried to storm our home," Hudson remarked as the entire clan looked down at the unconscious pair. "Such an act is sheer madness, even for them."

"Something tells me that was not their intention," Goliath mused, remembering the blast from outside that missed both him and Elisa, as well as how Adam had come flying in on Hyena's back just moments later.

"Well, we definitely need some answers," Brooklyn noted, looking over in Adam's direction. "And I think the best place to start is with the one guy who's still conscious to answer…WHAT THE…?"

As Brooklyn raised his voice, the rest of the clan whirled around in the direction he was looking. And to all of their surprise, Adam had completely disappeared. In fact, no one would have ever suspected that he had been standing there with them not a few seconds ago.

"Oh, you've gotta be KIDDING me!" Broadway's frustrated shouts echoed through the promenade as the clan looked around in vain for any sign of their mysterious ally. "Who IS this guy?"

* * *

In a neighborhood far from the Eyrie Building, the streets were lined with small banks and shops, places that generally closed on a regular basis. As a result, there were generally no people around to see any goings-on in the dead of night. Certainly no one would be around to see a lone Gargoyle gliding through the air as Demona delicately landed on one of the local banks, preparing to slip inside.

A flashing swipe of her talons made quick work of the building's electrical wiring, ensuring that no alarms would be set off upon entering. A moment later, she had reached the bank's skylight, tearing off the latch gently gliding inside. But once she was in, there was no more need to be subtle. Brandishing the heavy laser rifle she'd brought with her, Demona fired into the safe door, blowing it off its pins and hinges and sending to tumbling to the ground with a shattering, metallic thud.

It was a simple enough matter for Demona to heave the door aside, using her strength. But her real concern was finding the safe deposit box stored within; the same safe deposit box that Elmore Rollins had discovered during his investigation of the embezzled 20 million dollars from Nightstone Enterprises. Though "Dominique Destine" would never have told Rollins the truth, Demona instantly recognized the account number used to take out the money and open the safe deposit box.

"I don't know who you are…or how you set all this up, using one of MY private Nightstone accounts," Demona declared, tearing open a few more safe deposit boxes to keep anything from being traced back to her. "But when I find you…you're going to wish you'd never HEARD of me."

Finally, she'd reached the true target of her break-in. Shearing open the locked door with no greater effort than the others, Demona pulled the box out of its slot and quickly tore it open. But what she found inside was not what she was expecting. Nestled within the box, with no other papers or money was a simple portable monitor. Growing ever more curious, Demona pressed the button underneath the screen to turn it on. And what she saw only made her eyes grow wide with shock.

"This recording will be erased after the first viewing. Demona, if you're watching this, then this means you've discovered what I've done. But it also means that all of my previous efforts, so far, have been unsuccessful," a familiar voice spoke methodically as Demona could only look on, dumbfounded at the sight of her own face staring back at her. "I was hoping not to involve you in this, personally. And rest assured that if everything had gone as planned, I would have explained everything and you would have been more than happy with the results. But if everything else has failed, then it would seem that our hands have been forced, both yours and mine."

"First, let's get the obvious out of the way…I AM from your future," the recording of Demona continued to state onscreen. "The specifics are not important, but I will say that I've come back to this time to deal with a matter of utmost urgency…the human, Elisa Maza."

"What?" Demona remarked.

"Elisa Maza is about to become the harbinger of the greatest menace Gargoyles have ever known. If she lives, Gargoyle-kind as we know it will cease to exist. To prevent this disaster from occurring, Elisa Maza must die," the Demona recording continued as Demona watched in growing bewilderment.

"What could Elisa Maza POSSIBLY have to do with…?"

"Listen to me!" the recording exclaimed, her frantic voice and angry glowing eyes instantly diverting Demona's train of thought. "You have no idea what is coming…what it will mean when it does! Such an abomination must NOT be allowed to occur! For this tragedy to be avoided…for the future purity of your race…!"

"…ELISA…MAZA…MUST…NOT…LIVE!"


	4. Chapter 4

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Part Four  
By Aaron

"Okay, mission accomplished," Broadway reported as he landed in the castle courtyard with Angela to join the rest of the clan. "We dropped Jackal and Hyena at the nearest precinct and kept an eye on them until Matt came by with a couple of units to pick them up."

"Thankfully, they were still unconscious when he arrived," Angela added with a hint of relief. "All of our enemies should be so accommodating after a battle."

"Well, it sure sounds like you had better luck than we did." Lexington noted with a dejected voice.

"He's not here?" Broadway exclaimed, instantly deducing that the clan's search for Adam had been unsuccessful.

"Aye…it's as if the very shadows themselves reached out and swallowed him whole," Hudson answered in bewilderment. "There's not a trace of him to be found anywhere."

"Oooooooh no…I am NOT going to accept that this guy just danced away right under our noses," Brooklyn declared angrily as Angela looked around the courtyard with worry. "We are FINDING him."

"Uh…where is Goliath?" Angela asked meekly, making it clear where her attention was focused on as her father's massive frame was much conspicuous by its absence.

"Where do you think?" Lexington answered.

* * *

It was only moments before Angela and the rest of the clan made their way through one of the castle's many interior corridors, where a chamber on the end had been fashioned into a modest guest bedroom. Xanatos and Fox had chosen to remain outside, but their presence made it all-too clear who could be found within.

"How is she?" Angela asked with concern.

"The pain seems to have eased a bit. She's hanging in there," Fox answered plainly. "My doctor is on his way, he should be here any minute."

The clan needed no further encouragement to do what came naturally to them as they crowded into the room. Even though they knew what to expect, it still wasn't easy for any of them to see Elisa lying in bed, struck down by her mysterious affliction. It was even harder for them to look at Goliath. Kneeling at her side with his hands folded over one of hers and a look of anguish spread across his face, he seemed virtually catatonic, moving not a muscle and speaking not a word.

"Elisa?" Broadway asked modestly, peering over Goliath's shoulder with the others as Fox and Xanatos lingered in the doorway. "Are you okay?"

"Huh…a little better…but I'd settle for great. Nnn!" Elisa joked weakly, trying to put on a tough front until another groan of pain escaped her lips, causing Goliath's dread to worsen.

Just then, a soft, beeping sound could be heard coming from a nearby panel in the room. Instantly recognizing the noise, Xanatos walked over and pulled out what appeared to be a telephone receiver.

"Yes…? Yes, that's good…send him right up immediately," he ordered before hanging up the receiver and turning back to the others. "That was the main Security Desk downstairs. Fox's doctor has arrived. They're letting him up now."

"You guys better make yourselves scarce," Fox suggested.

"It's just as well. We need to find that fruitcake, Adam, before he gets too far," Brooklyn pointed out.

"Owen has the entire building on lockdown and Security is conducting a room-by-room search," Xanatos declared. "There's no way he got out of here."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but he got away from us and we were standing right next to him," Angela noted, sounding far less confident. "I can only imagine how easy it would be for him to evade security patrols in a massive fortress like this."

"Even if he did get out, he couldn't have gotten THAT far," Lexington added, trying to sound more upbeat.

"Either way, we'd best stop talking about it. Every second we spend here is a second he gets further from our reach," Hudson remarked before turning his attention to the one in the room who had remained completely silent. "Goliath?"

"Elisa…," Goliath uttered, fearful to leave her side.

"Ssshhhhh…no buts, Big Guy," Elisa groaned, pulling herself up to a sitting position. "My body may be down, but my brain's working fine. Whatever's going on with these attempts on my life, it's pretty obvious that this guy is somehow involved. And whether he's on our side or not, we've got to track him down. He's the only one who can give us any kind of answers."

"Hey…don't worry. I promise…I'll still be here when you get back," Elisa coaxed on, looking into Goliath's eyes with a weak smile before turning her attention to Bronx who peered over the bed and nestled his head into her lap. "Besides…I've got the best watchdog in the business looking out for me."

Grudgingly accepting Elisa's argument, Goliath simply replied with the slightest of nods before Elisa reached up with her free hand and pulled his head down, pressing her forehead to his. And while Goliath was truly appreciative of the gesture, Elisa's heavy, ragged breathing through her nose made it clear that she was merely putting up a tough front, desperately fighting her way through her pain. But as much as it made Goliath desire that much more to stay, he had to remember Fox's earlier words. Now was the time to focus and get his priorities straight.

"Let's go," he ordered solemnly, racing out the door with the rest of the clan behind him.

"I don't understand," Angela whispered as the clan charged outside. "Why is Elisa asking him to leave? Wouldn't she want him to stay close?"

"Goliath can't help her win THIS battle, Lass," Hudson explained quietly. "To stay would only make him feel helpless. By sending him away for this, she can at least make him feel like he's doing SOMETHING for her."

"No sense wasting time and energy," Brooklyn suggested as they made it to the outer wall. "I say we split up to cover more ground. Say, about 10 blocks in every direction. I doubt he's gotten much farther than that."

"Agreed," Goliath replied, turning to the others. "Each of you, head your own way and begin the search. Return here once you've covered your area."

Nodding in agreement, the clan spread out, climbing to the battlements and each taking off to begin an aerial search for their quarry. However, what they didn't count on was that Adam was much closer than they could have ever anticipated. After all, they were expecting to search for someone who was trying to get away from the Eyrie building. It could never have occurred to any of them that Adam had halted his flight to an alley across the street and was keeping himself concealed in the shadows behind a dumpster. If they had, however, they surely would have found it most curious that he was holding his fingers to the side of his neck, timing his pulse with his watch.

"Okay…better. I was pushing it there, for a minute, though," he thought out loud, taking a few more deep breaths before peering over the dumpster to regard the Eyrie building with a worried look. "Can't afford to start losing it now, Champ. The night's not over yet."

* * *

"Doctor Rayburn, so glad you could make it," Fox regarded as she and Xanatos both greeted him outside the elevator. "I sincerely hope we didn't interrupt anything deeply important."

"Fox, David, always a pleasure," Rayburn replied, shaking her and Xanatos' hands before following them down the hall. "I must say though, I'm a little surprised to see you up and around, after your assistant called and said it was an emergency. And then, with all the security…What exactly is wrong?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said you were here to see me," Fox explained, opening the door and leading Rayburn into the guest room where Elisa remained groaning squirming uncomfortably. "Meet your patient, Elisa Maza."

"What happened to her?" Rayburn asked quickly and professionally as he made his way to Elisa's side.

"That's what we're hoping you could tell us," Fox answered. "She doesn't appear to be hurt, but she suddenly just collapsed from pain. I'm afraid we're a bit out of our depth here."

"I'll…do what I can," Rayburn stated with a shrug before preparing to examine Elisa. "Does she have any family in the city?"

"We've already informed them, they're on their way now," Xanatos answered as he and Fox backed out of the room. "If you'll excuse us, Doctor, you seem to have things under control here. We need to see to a situation in the building."

"Understood. Now Elisa, can you understand me?" Rayburn inquired, with a moaning Elisa nodding in response while Xanatos and Fox closed the door. "Okay…Elisa, I'm going to ask you a few standard questions. The more honest you are the better chance I have to help you. Now…"

* * *

"The boy walks head-first into an unknown clan of Gargoyles and doesn't even bat an eye," Xanatos noted with suspicion as he, Fox and Owen regarded the castle security footage from his office. "Our mysterious friend seems to be growing more interesting by the second."

"Whoever he is, he's VERY good," Fox observed, drawing their attention in particular to the recording of Adam's fight with Hyena. "Like right here. He read each one of Hyena's moves, knew exactly how she was going to attack him, and countered her every step of the way. You don't just DO that. It's something that has to be practiced, learned."

"Hmmm…," Xanatos muttered as he looked at the screen thoughtfully, finding only questions but no answers.

"Oh no…David, look!" Fox suddenly blurted out, pointing at the smaller monitor recording the nursery.

On the screen, little Alexander remained babbling happily, reaching up out of his playpen. But inside the room with him were two other figures…one, a tall, well-built young man with fiery red hair and a black suit with gold-plated armor. The other was a young female Gargoyle with blue skin, violet eyes, a small beak, long horns that curved behind her head and flowing, jet-black hair, wearing a short, yellow kimono with black trim and a pair of samurai swords strapped to her back.

"Who is THAT?" Xanatos exclaimed.

"Whoever they are, they're in the room with OUR son!" Fox shouted as she dashed out of the office. "And that is NOT where they're staying!"

Xanatos needed no encouragement to follow his wife's lead and go running out the door to confront these new intruders. However, Owen, curiously enough, stayed behind. Instead of following Xanatos and Fox to Little Alexander's side, he chose instead to seat himself behind Xanatos' desk and begin a search of computer records.

"How could they possibly have gotten into the nursery?" Xanatos wondered as he and Fox dashed through the corridors, both having armed themselves with laser weapons. "The doors require key code access."

"You can ask them that AFTER we drag them out by their fingernails!" Fox snarled angrily.

Seconds later, they'd reached the sealed nursery, taking their positions on each side of the heavy twin doors. Quickly, Fox made a series of hand signals, indicating to burst into the room on the count of three. But just as she was about to start counting down…

"Mr. Xanatos, I believe I have some information that you may find of particular interest," Owen's voice suddenly chimed in as his image appeared in a split-screen view from a nearby terminal, alongside the image inside the nursery.

"Not now, Owen," Xanatos replied sternly as he turned back to Fox, both of them focused on only one thing at that moment.

"With all due respect, sir, you ARE going to want to see this," Owen debated, replacing his own image with a listed readout of all the recent security activity, highlighting the topmost line. "It's the pass code they used to gain access to the castle and enter the nursery."

Curious, Xanatos and Fox made their way to the screen to see which of their codes could possibly have been used to gain access. But as the line of code met their gaze, an intense look of shock instantly flashed across their faces.

"…That's impossible…," Fox uttered, her jaw hanging open in astonishment. "There's only one person in the WORLD authorized to use that code."

Xanatos could offer no reply, looking every bit as bewildered. But just then, his eyes shifted over to the inner view of the nursery. And as he took a closer look at the young man, standing motionless by the playpen, his back still to the camera, as Little Alexander giggled and reached up for him, his brain suddenly began racing. Just then, a stunning revelation crossed his mind, causing him to open his eyes even wider. His reaction instantly got Fox's attention, but she was even more perplexed by the reaction that followed as a lighthearted chuckle suddenly escaped his lips.

"Well, well, well," he remarked, grinning at the screen in bizarre amusement. "Just when you think nothing can surprise you anymore…"

"It's hard to believe," the female Gargoyle noted with a smile as she reached down for giggly Little Alexander to grab onto her finger. "He's just so small, isn't he?"

"Oh…he's not that small," Xanatos' voice sounded from behind, causing her to whirl around and see him walking into the room, his weapon lowered, while Fox closed the doors behind them.

"But he IS pretty unbelievable," Fox added, leaning on Xanatos' shoulder as they both focused their attention to the young man, who had yet to turn and face them. "Isn't he?"

Again, the young man said nothing, merely turning his head just enough to peer over his shoulder. But as his eyes caught a glimpse of Xanatos and Fox both smirking at him, he did manage to respond with a cryptic half-smile.

* * *

On another skyscraper just across from the Eyrie Building, a shadowy figure slowly made its way across the rooftop, clutching a small remote transmitter in its hand. With a simple button press, the transmitter sent a signal to a small, dust-covered device down in the Eyrie Building's generator room, causing its digital timer to begin a 30-second countdown.

At the same time, another shadowy figure dropped from the skies, into the courtyard of Castle Wyvern. Walking into the light, it was revealed to be none other than Elisa's brother Derek, more commonly known as Talon. He had been quickly informed of Elisa being struck down with her strange affliction, approximately the same time Elisa's parents had been notified. Fortunately, having bat wings as part of being a Mutate granted him the luxury of not being caught up in the typical Manhattan traffic, allowing him to be the first of the family to arrive. Nevertheless, as he looked around the castle, Elisa's well-being hardly became the first thing that entered his mind, when all he could think about was how Xanatos had been the one responsible for orchestrating his mutation in the first place.

"Oh Sis, I know you guys are trying to have some kind of 'truce' thing going on," Talon muttered to himself, still shifting his gaze uncomfortably. "But why did this have to be the place for you to get laid up? Being here now just gives me the creeps."

Unbeknownst to Talon, or anyone in the Eyrie Building, the strange mechanism in the generator room completed its ill-fated countdown to zero. A second later, an eerie hum escaped from it, causing all the generators to mysteriously grind to a stop. At that moment, all the rest of the Eyrie Building's electronics slowly began to flicker and die, eventually bathing the entire structure in darkness.

"Oh good," Talon remarked, now having to find his way around in total blackness. "This is MUCH more comfortable."

Naturally, Talon was hardly the only one to notice the blackout. Xanatos, Fox and the female Gargoyle in the nursery, along with Elisa who was still in the middle of being examined by Doctor Rayburn, could only respond to the sudden power loss with surprise and confusion. The only one who didn't seem surprised by the blackout was the young man in the nursery, whose eyes took on a stern expression.

The other one who wasn't surprised was the mysterious figure on the roof. Upon seeing the Eyrie Building go dark, a pair of eyes glowed blood red as the shadowy form loomed forward.

"Oh…NOW what?" an exasperated Fox sighed.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Xanatos observed. "Even the emergency lights aren't kicking in. If it wasn't for the city lights outside we wouldn't be able to see anything."

"So what do we do?" Fox wondered, pushing against the nursery doors. "Never mind the fact that it shouldn't even be POSSIBLE to kill the power to this building. But with the power out, these doors are shut tight. How can we even get out to see what's going on?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," the young man's confident voice sounded, getting Fox and Xanatos' attention. "Trust me. Everything's under control."

* * *

His mutated panther eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness, Talon was slowly making his way across the courtyard, hoping to find an adjoining hall and get inside before he had any more surprises to worry about. But a surprise was exactly what he was about to get as a shadowy figure swooped in from the skies to land just a few yards behind him. Fortunately, Talon's panther sense of smell, another trait that had slowly developed as a result of his mutation, kicked in. And his nose perked up as he took a set of quick sniffs, noting a change in the air.

"Goliath? Is that you?" he asked pensively, recognizing the smell as being that of a Gargoyle.

The darkened form spoke not a word, merely inching its way toward Talon, with its glowing, blood-red eyes. But just as it was almost upon him, Talon took another pair of quick sniffs. His initial analysis was that the smell was that of a Gargoyle, but over time, he began to notice that each one had a subtly different scent than the others. And he knew exactly which Gargoyle THIS scent belonged to.

"No, it's not…" Talon hissed as he whirled around, firing a pair of bolts from his electrically charged fists.

Moving quickly, the figure leaped out of the way, causing Talon's attack to slam harmlessly into the far wall. But the curtain had already been pulled back on its shroud of darkness, as the flash from Talon's blasts revealed that it was, in fact, Demona herself who was laying siege to the castle. Reacting quickly, Demona grabbed the laser rifle she had brought with her and fired back.

The energy from Demona's blast exploded into the ground, sending Talon flying off his feet. Rolling back to a standing position, Talon managed to recover swiftly. But it wasn't quick enough to counter Demona, who had already charged in, slamming the butt of her gun across the side of Talon's head and quickly knocking him unconscious.

"Consider yourself lucky that I don't have time to deal with some counterfeit patchwork Gargoyle," Demona muttered as she walked away from Talon's prone body. "But that Electromagnetic Pulse device I secretly planted in Xanatos' Generator room was a one-shot deal, only strong enough to knock out the power to this building for a few minutes. And I have a more serious matter to attend to."

* * *

"Well, that's going to complicate things," Dr. Rayburn noted, pulling a small flashlight out of his bag.

"Thanks. I'm gonna need that," Elisa replied, snapping the flashlight out of Rayburn's hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rayburn argued as Elisa groaned uncomfortably, forcing herself out of bed. "I'm not about to let you go anywhere. You're not well."

"Trust a cop's instincts, Doc," Elisa answered, pulling her pistol from her shoulder holster that was slung over a nearby chair, underneath her jacket. "If this is what I think it is, NONE of us are going to be well for long."

True to Elisa's word, Demona was carefully making her way along the corridor, looking for any signs of Elisa, while readying herself for any other surprises. And sure enough, one big surprise was fast approaching as a growling Bronx came bounding towards her, with the momentum of a runaway train.

Unfortunately for Bronx, Demona had no more difficulty dodging his assault than she did, Talon's. As Bronx streaked past, his claws shearing through the stone wall, Demona whirled around and fired her rifle, clipping Bronx's front left leg and taking out his mobility.

"Stay…down," Demona menaced, her gun trained on the head of a snarling Bronx as he tried desperately to get back to his feet. "Don't think I'll have any qualms about putting you down like the dog that you are."

"Funny. I was about to say the same thing to you," Elisa's voice sounded from behind as she peered from around the corner, with Dr. Rayburn right behind her, both her gun and flashlight pointed straight at Demona.

Her eyes flashing red, Demona whirled around with a hissing growl of rage. But for all her ferocity and anger, the only sound she ended up making next was a piercing shriek of pain as Elisa immediately fired. The bullet grazed Demona's right shoulder and shredded through her wing, causing her to drop her rifle.

"Wha…what IS that thing?" Rayburn gasped in shock, his mind unable to process what he was seeing.

But Elisa had no time to answer him. Dashing down the hall, she managed to kick Demona's rifle away before she could collect it. And before Demona had time to react, she found herself staring right down the barrel of Elisa's pistol, pointed squarely between her eyes.

"Listen, I've got news for you. I have had a REALLY bad couple of nights," Elisa declared, her voice growing angrier and more threatening by the second. "So I am BEGGING you, okay? Just this once…"

"…GIVE…ME…AN EXCUSE."

What to do? Demona's eyes could only glow red with fury at the situation she suddenly found herself in. Granted, she knew full-well that the sorcery that had allowed her to stay alive through the millennium meant that a gunshot to the head wouldn't kill her. Not permanently, anyway. But it would certainly be enough to incapacitate her until Goliath and the rest of the clan returned and then she would be at their mercy. And there was no way she could possibly move fast enough to attack before Elisa fired. If she gave even the slightest twitch, she knew she'd be waking up in chains. What to do, indeed? But as Demona was trying her best to figure out how to get out of this mess, another staggering wave of pain shot through Elisa's belly, bringing the standoff to an abrupt halt.

"Oh no…not now…," Elisa shuddered as she crumpled to the ground, clutching her sides in agony.

Demona couldn't have cared less to wonder what was going on. Pressing the sudden advantage, she snapped to her feet, punting Elisa hard in the chest. Fortunately, Elisa had enough presence of mind to roll with the impact, but the force of Demona's kick was still enough to send her into the air and rolling back down the corridor.

Instinctively, Rayburn scrambled to Elisa's side, wanting to see to the well-being of his patient. But as he looked up to see Demona's form looming over them, her eyes glowing red and smirking in triumph, he suddenly found himself paralyzed with fright. Of course, his reaction was well beyond Demona's notice as her attention remained fixed on Elisa's writhing, groaning form.

"Hmph, and to think…I was told that YOU were the one who was supposed to bring about the end of Gargoyle kind as we know it," Demona boasted, unable to resist savoring the moment. "And just how do you plan to do that, when you can't even handle ME?"

"A bit early to be taking a victory lap, don't you think?" a new voice came from behind as Demona whirled around to see Adam standing strong behind her, wearing his sunglasses and holding Demona's rifle in his hand.

"You looking for this?" he added.

Reaching down to pat a whimpering Bronx on the head before turning his attention back to Demona, Adam defiantly tossed the rifle over his shoulder, making it clear that there was only one way she was going to be able to get it. Of course his bravado seemed to do little to impress Demona, who merely shook her head and chuckled in amusement.

"Oh please," she remarked sarcastically, "As if I need that toy to do away with a scraggly little pup like you."

"Tall words," Adam answered with a confident smirk, "Taller order."

Her eyes glowing angrily once again, Demona turned her attention away from Elisa as she charged towards Adam, who remained unmoving. She had no idea who this mysterious newcomer was, that had suddenly made his presence known. And she didn't care. All she knew was that she was not about to let such impudence from a mere human go unpunished. With a snarling hiss, Demona bore down on Adam, sending a crushing fist hurtling straight for his head…!

…only to have her attack come to a dead stop as Adam reached up and caught her punch with seemingly no effort at all. Momentarily stunned at the outcome, Demona suddenly found herself frozen in her tracks.

"Surprised, aren't you?" Adam asked plainly with a toothy grin.

Demona's next shock came a split-second later, as Adam's spare fist shot straight into her gut with a thunderous blow, driving all the air out of her lungs and dropping her to one knee. And while Demona could do nothing but let out a few ragged, broken gasps as her body trembled, Adam's voice suddenly lowered to a long wicked hiss.

"I KNEW you would be."

* * *

"Brooklyn!" Angela's voice called out from the sky as Brooklyn looked over his shoulder to see her, Lexington and Broadway gliding in his direction.

"Let me guess. You guys didn't find anything either," Brooklyn responded unhappily as they landed on a nearby rooftop.

"Man, I don't get it. I've eaten sardines that weren't as slippery as this guy," Broadway griped, forcing Brooklyn to flash an uncomfortable look his way.

"Hey guys, look," Lexington piped up pointing back to the Eyrie building, causing everyone to see that it had gone dark. "Everything's blacked out. What's going on over there?"

"Nothing that SHOULD be," Brooklyn remarked, leaping off the rooftop with the others close behind. "Everyone, back to the castle now, double time!"

* * *

Back at Castle Wyvern, Demona had managed to recover and was continuing her battle against the newly arrived Adam…or at least trying. But no matter how ferociously she lashed out, Adam seemed to tirelessly counter her attacks. In fact, after toying with her for a few moments longer, Adam quickly blocked one of Demona's strikes, only to snap his arm forward and drive the back of his fist into her face. And as Demona staggered back, Adam leaped into a horizontal flip, bringing one leg up and around to crack his foot into the back of Demona's head, slamming her into the hard stone floor, face-first.

It was at that moment that the effect of Electromagnetic Pulse device Demona had secretly planted in the Eyrie Building began to wane and the generators were soon spinning again, bringing power back to all the facilities. Naturally, this quickly came to everyone's notice, especially Xanatos and Fox, who found themselves quite relieved.

Elisa, however, was far more confused than relieved. She couldn't read most of what was happening from Demona's fight with Adam, with the flashlight rolling and spinning on the floor, only casting the occasional image. But the last thing Elisa expected to see when the lights came on was Demona lying face-down at his feet. Demona was, far and away, one of the most dangerous beings Elisa had ever had the displeasure of encountering, since her friendship with the Gargoyles began. And yet, to this Adam, she seemed to be little more than an inconvenience. But then, Elisa turned to see Dr. Rayburn shuddering beside her, unable to make sense of ANYTHING he was seeing.

"Uh-hhh, typical. It never fails…always trying to power your way through," Adam remarked, walking around Demona's trembling form as she struggled to get back to her feet. "I have NEVER understood why you keep thinking brute force is going to carry you in a fight. I mean, seriously. You've been walking around for a thousand years…there are almost as many martial arts out there. You're going to tell me you couldn't find the time to pick up ONE half-decent fighting style? Come on!"

"Unnh…who are you?" Demona groaned, inwardly cursing the sorry state she suddenly found herself in. "You're certainly no human…"

"Oh, I'd tell you. But…you wouldn't want to hear it," Adam replied with a smirk, his voice briefly dropping to a malevolent whisper. "It would make you craaaaaaazyyyyyyy…"

"…well…Crazy-ER."

Just then, Demona sprang to life, leaping away from Adam and rolling along the ground to collect her laser rifle, which was lying just a few short yards away. And before Adam could react, Demona whirled around, firing a full-power blast which struck Adam hard in the chest, sending him flying through the air and smashing through a wooden door into a room at the end of the hall.

"Adam!" Elisa shouted, fighting her way through her own pain to scramble into the room, dragging Rayburn along with her. "Adam, come on, stay with us! Talk to me!"

"O-o-o-o-h-h-h…what was that REALLY stupid thing I was just saying about not taking a victory lap?" Adam shuddered, his body twitching as Rayburn examined the smoldering wound on his chest.

"This…this isn't good…," Rayburn noted as best he could, still in a state of panic. "He's…going into shock."

"Yeah…yeah I am," Adam's trembling voice groaned, "And that's…REALLY not good for anybody…"

"Adam, forget about Demona," Elisa tried coaxing, even though Demona, herself, was still stalking towards the room to finish them all off. "You're not saving anyone from her like this."

"Yeah…?" Adam responded, his breath coming in broken gasps. "…Who's gonna save anyone from ME…?"

"From you? What are you talking about?" Elisa asked, drawing a moment of ragged, almost hysterical laughter from Adam as he looked up into her eyes with a bizarre grin.

"…Don't blink…you'll miss it…"

No sooner did the words escape Adam's lips than his eyes suddenly burst wide, taking on an intense glow. And within seconds, his writhing body began to grow and warp. Over the sounds of tearing clothing and Adam's own cries of pain being replaced by bestial growls, Rayburn's face became twisted in fright as he scrambled to the far side of the room. Elisa, meanwhile, remained at Adam's side, but even she couldn't disguise her astonishment, her eyes going wide and her lips uttering the only thing she could think of at that moment…

"…oh…my…God…"

Even Demona found herself slowing her pace to the room, taken aback by the sounds coming from within. What exactly was going on in there? In all her centuries walking the earth, she'd never heard anything like it. Unfortunately for Demona, she was about to get her answer as a tall, shadowy form slowly rose up inside the room.

"Lady…you just made me very…VERY…angry," Adam's voice could be heard coming from inside. At least, it sounded like Adam's voice. But somehow, it had taken a deeper, more graveled tone.

Just then, two large, grey-skinned arms, with heavy veins popping out all over, burst from the doorway, slamming their hands into the stone walls on both sides and driving their fingers in deep. And as the rest of the body followed, Demona could only let out a gasp of shock. For the creature she now saw before her may have sounded like Adam. The tatters surrounding his body even looked like the clothes he was wearing. But this thing was at least a foot taller and a hundred pounds more muscular. His skin was grey, his hands and feet still having five fingers and toes, but had somehow, now looked like Gargoyle hands and feet, talons and all. The giant, leathery wings sprouting from his back were so dark, they almost seemed black. Long, dark, matted hair draped around his head, partially obscuring his features. But even Demona could make out the horned brow, the glowing eyes and the twisted, fanged smile as Adam's voice lowered to a demonic hiss, his thick tail slamming hard into the ground.

"…As a great man once said…'you wouldn't LIKE me when I'm angry'."

Instinctively, Demona raised her rifle to fire again. But Adam thundered toward her with astonishing speed, not only dodging her blast, but reaching her before she could fire again, grabbing her shoulders and whirling her around to slam her into the nearby wall. Then, with a growl, Adam heaved Demona against the opposite wall, driving her into it with such force that the stone gave way and Demona's body smashed through, sending her tumbling into the courtyard. Adam would soon follow close behind, leaping through the hole in the wall and landing hard into the ground before rearing back his head and letting out a monstrous roar into the heavens.

So loud was Adam's howl that it even reached the ears of everyone in Little Alexander's nursery, sounding like a muffled bellow. Xanatos and Fox could only react to the noise with curious looks. But for the young man and the female Gargoyle at his side, there was nothing curious about what they were hearing.

"Ooooooohhhhh," the young man uttered, his voice lowering uncomfortably.

"What's 'Ooooooohhhhh'?" Fox immediately asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yeah…that would be a sign that things have gotten a little less under control. You might want to go out there now. But first…," the young man replied, reaching into the bag the female Gargoyle had slung over her shoulder and pulling out a pair of dart guns, tossing them towards Fox and Xanatos. "Trust me…you're gonna need those."

Back in the courtyard, the newly transformed Adam was on the warpath, rampaging towards Demona who was still recovering from getting thrown through the wall. But as dazed as she was, Demona could still feel the pounding impact from each of Adam's footsteps as he surged forward and she knew she had to act fast. Marshaling all her strength as he reached her, Demona whirled around as Adam raised his muscular arms over his head and threw a crushing punch straight into his gut, stopping him dead in his tracks…

…for about a second. Recovering almost instantly, Adam snarled as he brought his arms down across Demona's shoulders, slamming her into the ground again.

"Is that the best you can DO?" he roared, punting Demona hard in the side, which sent her skidding across the cobbled walkway before rolling to a dazed stop.

"Whoa, check it out," Lexington remarked in awe, gliding onto the scene with the others. "That's Demona down there. But who's she fighting?"

"Is that another Gargoyle?" Broadway exclaimed. "What IS that?"

"Maybe HE can tell us," Brooklyn replied, being in no hurry to come to Demona's rescue as he turned everyone's attention to Talon, who was lying on the ground several yards away.

"Uunnh…," Talon groaned, slowly recovering just as the clan landed around him.

"Talon, are you alright?" Angela asked, helping him to his feet.

"Nnn…gettin' there," Talon replied before looking up to see the war that was being waged on the other side of the courtyard. "What's going on?"

"That's what we were hoping you could tell us," Brooklyn replied.

"I'm coming in at the same time you are," Talon explained, groggily pointing a hand in Demona's direction. "First she knocks me out…Next thing I know, you guys are here…and I'm waking up in the middle of a Texas Death Match."

"Hey…check out what he's got on," Lexington noted, paying close attention to the strange new Gargoyle's appearance. "Don't those look like the clothes that Adam guy was wearing?"

"No way," Broadway uttered in surprise. "That's him?"

Meanwhile, the battle between Demona and Adam continued to rage unchecked, although the odds were hardly turning out in Demona's favor. Especially considering that Adam was lifting her off the ground, his hand clamped firmly around her face. Quickly realizing that no matter how much force she brought to bear, she was unable to pull herself free, Demona went for another tactic, digging her talons deep into Adam's wrist. Growling at the sudden jolt of pain, Adam's grip weakened. And Demona made her move, pulling herself free before hooking her legs over Adam's shoulders, hoisting herself up and raising her arms to deliver a clubbing blow to the back of Adam's neck.

But Adam wasn't about to stand for that. Quickly shaking off the pain in his wrist, he reached up and grabbed Demona's shoulders, snapping forward and driving his head hard into her face. Stunned by the collision, Demona tumbled backward. But Adam still wasn't done, grabbing Demona's wrist in mid-air and yanking her forward into a vicious lariat. The force of the impact from Adam's arm was like a steal beam under Demona's chin, her feet snapping forward as she landed flat on her back. Whirling around, Adam then completed his attack by delivering a crushing axe kick straight onto Demona's head.

"Pa-thetic," he hissed, chuckling with demented glee as his foot ground into the side of Demona's skull.

"You…," Demona groaned, both from the pressure of Adam's foot and her anger at herself for being rendered so helpless. "What…ARE you…?"

"I'M YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" Adam snarled down at her. "EVERY…SINGLE…ONE OF THEM!"

"…Mother…," Angela uttered, her daughterly instincts overriding the logic that Demona was in no lasting danger as she ran forward. "Adam, stop!"

At the sound of Angela's voice, Adam turned his notice away from Demona to shift his gaze upon Talon and the clan. But the glow of his eyes and the sickening grin still splashed across his face made the others quickly wish that they hadn't gotten his attention as Broadway rushed over and grabbed Angela, trying to pull her back.

"…Angela…Run!" Demona cried out in desperation as Adam let out a low, throaty growl, eying the clan like a bloodthirsty predator.

Just then, two sharp pains drilled into Adam's shoulder, causing him to rear his head back with a roar. Whirling around in anger, allowing Demona to roll away to safety, he noticed Xanatos and Fox standing on one of the adjoining steps, both brandishing the dart guns they had been given back in the nursery.

"Well, THAT worked like a charm," Fox remarked sarcastically when it became clear that Adam's attention was now fixed solely on them.

"Get out of there! MOVE!" Brooklyn shouted as Adam swept the darts out of his shoulder and charged towards Xanatos and Fox, bellowing in rage.

"Oh, I can't BELIEVE I'm about to do this…," Talon muttered as he leaped clear of the clan, firing a pair of electric bolts straight in Adam's direction.

Another roar echoed through the courtyard as Talon's attacks hit their mark and the electrical surge ripped through Adam's body. That, combined with the darts Fox and Xanatos shot him with finally seemed to be slowing him down. But he was still managing to stumble forward, trying to continue his attack.

Before anyone else could act, however, a third party inserted himself into the fray as Goliath dropped from the sky with Hudson close behind. Yet, to Adam, this seemed of no consequence, still continuing to mindlessly stagger on. There seemed to be only one way to halt his rampage. And Goliath wasted no time pulling back a tightly clenched fist before surging forward, driving it square into Adam's face.

That finally appeared to have done it. With Goliath's blow, Adam was stopped dead in his tracks. The angry glow fading, Adam looked completely cross-eyed as his head wobbled and his body teetered back and forth. But in his weakened state, his demeanor also appeared to have completely changed as he chanced to look Goliath in the eyes and tossed him a dazed grin.

"Thanks…I needed that…," he murmured before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground.

With Adam appearing to be incapacitated, the clan quickly gathered around him, along with Xanatos, Fox and Talon. But looking at is prone form lying unconscious on the ground, it only brought more questions. And they still hadn't answered the ones they already had.

"Wait a minute. Where's Demona?" Brooklyn suddenly realized, looking around with the others, only to see that Demona had taken advantage of the confusion to already make her escape.

"Of course," he muttered, part of him feeling somewhat cheated.

* * *

Taking no chances, Goliath moved an unconscious Adam to one of the lower corridors of Castle Wyvern, which had once been used as the dungeon. He also took the added precaution of making sure that Adam's legs, wrists and ankles were tightly bound in heavy chains before laying him down in one of the old cells, closing the bars behind him.

"Are we sure this is the right thing to do?" Angela wondered, taking note of how peaceful Adam looked in his unconscious state, almost as though he were sleeping. "He DID save Elisa's life after all…twice that we know of. He may even have been the one who saved her from Castaway, too."

"Come on, Angela," Broadway replied. "You saw that look on his face."

"We all did. He was two seconds away from coming after US," Lexington added. "Whoever's side he's on, this guy's dangerous."

"Especially considering that he completely manhandled Demona," Brooklyn noted. "Who have we EVER run into that's been able to do THAT?"

"No one," Hudson answered grimly, while Goliath could only eye their prisoner and grumble uncomfortably.

"Questions without end," he muttered. "None of this makes any sense."

"Perhaps that's because you're only arriving in the middle of the story," an unfamiliar voice caught their attention as they all turned to see a young female Gargoyle walking down the steps towards them.

"Who is THAT?" Broadway uttered as the dumbstruck clan took in the sight of the mysterious new Gargoyle.

"Call me, Katana," the female Gargoyle answered, bowling formally. "I am pleased to see you are all well."

"You're Japanese," Angela commented, taking immediate note of Katana's hairstyle and Kimono. "But…you're not from the Ishimura clan."

"Not the one YOU know," Katana replied simply. "But that's another discussion for another time."

"I take it, then, that you know this…'Adam'?" Hudson asked, feeling that the arrival of two mysterious new entities could hardly be a coincidence.

"At this point, I think it would be best to funnel all your remaining questions through him," Katana replied, stepping to the side to introduce the young armored man with flaming red hair walking down the steps, with Xanatos and Fox close behind.

"And you are…?" Goliath inquired suspiciously.

"Goliath, I'm surprised at you," Xanatos remarked with an amused grin. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed the family resemblance."

"Everyone," Fox announced. "Allow us to introduce…our son…ALEXANDER FOX XANATOS."

At Fox's words, the clan could only react with shock. But none more so than Lexington, who could only inch towards the young man in complete disbelief.

"…Alex…?" he uttered, examining him closely.

"Freaky, ain't it?" Alexander replied with a chuckle, while Lexington remained awestruck.

"If you truly are Alexander," Goliath noted, his gaze switching between Alexander and Katana. "I can only assume this means that you two are from the future."

"Well…I guess it's kinda hard to get anymore obvious than that, isn't it?" Alexander replied.

"And…him?" Goliath asked, turning his attention to Adam, who was still lying unconscious and chained in his cell.

"For the moment, let's just say he's been…temporarily misplaced," Alexander answered, walking up to the cell door before pounding heavily on the bars. "WAKE UP!"

"Concierge Desk! Carlos speaking!" Adam blurted out, surprising everyone as he suddenly snapped up into a sitting position before shaking the cobwebs from his head and looking down at his talons and chains. "What the…? Oh…right. I got shot, didn't I?"

"Yet another fine mess you've gotten yourself into," Katana commented with a disapproving gaze.

"Oh look, another country heard from…finally," Adam responded sarcastically before turning to Alexander with a look of concern. "I'm…hoping nobody got hurt…right?"

"Nobody who didn't deserve it," Alexander replied reassuringly.

"Oh. Good," Adam responded plainly with a shrug as Alexander opened the cell door.

"Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing?" Brooklyn exclaimed.

"Relax. He's fine now," Alexander assured, touching Adam's chains with his finger and creating a brief spark, causing them to fall away. "You…just caught him at a really bad time."

Despite his assertion, the clan wasn't quite so inclined to take Alexander at his word, backing away as Adam walked out of the cell and readying themselves for anything. However, the first thing Adam did after cracking his neck was look himself over and take note of the tatters clinging to his body.

"Eeeuuuuch…well, I'm not going ANYWHERE looking like THIS," he commented.

Before anyone had a chance to wonder what he meant, Adam stood still and closed his eyes. And suddenly, his tattered clothes began to sparkle and glitter. From there, the torn remnants began slowly repairing themselves, as well as altering in size to fit his body. And within seconds, Adam was standing in much the same clothes he was wearing before, with no evidence that they had ever been damaged.

"How did you DO that?" Broadway exclaimed as he Lexington, Brooklyn and Angela gathered around him, their caution giving way to wonder.

"Heh…You won't find THIS stuff on the rack at Macy's," Adam explained, sweeping his long hair back as a twinkling band encircled it in the back to form a quick ponytail. "This material was specially woven on Avalon. Can take on the size, shape and texture of any fabric or design you can think of. Let's just say it's saved me a WHACK on my clothing bills."

"That's incredible," Angela remarked, running her hands along Adam's magically conjured leather jacket.

"Eh…maybe a little," Adam replied with a shrug. "It's dry clean only."

* * *

"Alexander, your appearance at this time answers many of our questions," Goliath declared as everyone walked up to the Castle Wyvern's main level. "But there is still so much we do not understand."

"Goliath, you have my word, I would like nothing better than to give you all the answers you need right now. But it's going to be sunrise in about two minutes," Alexander noted, taking a quick peek at his watch before looking back up at Goliath with a serious gaze. "And besides, before that happens, you are going to have something MUCH more pressing to worry about. Believe me."

"Goliath!" a familiar woman's voice caught Goliath's attention before he had a chance to inquire as to Alexander's cryptic warning.

"Diane…Peter," Goliath greeted as Elisa's parents came rushing up to them, being ushered in by Owen.

"Where's Elisa?" Peter asked, the worry in his voice clearly evident. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"We're…not sure," Angela answered soberly. "We all just got back, ourselves, and…well…we had other things to deal with."

"Hi." Adam piped up with a toothy grin, waving at Peter and Diane, who were too worried to pay him any more than a passing glance.

"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Maza?" Dr. Rayburn's voice sounded as he came around the corner, only to stop dead in his tracks as his eyes nervously caught sight of Goliath and the others. "I'm Dr. Rayburn. I've been examining your daughter and…and…now…there are…MORE of you…Great…"

"I'm afraid you don't have time to understand what's going on here, Doctor," Xanatos remarked straightforwardly. "I believe you were examining a patient?"

"Doctor, please," Diane begged, rushing over to him. "Do you know what's happened to Elisa?"

"Yes, well…my…preliminary exam…uh…revealed…," Rayburn tried to answer, only to have his voice faltering as Goliath and the clan moved in closer to hear the news. "I'm sorry, this is too much for me to take in all at once. I…"

"For crying out loud, get it together, man!" Peter demanded, grabbing Rayburn by his jacket. "This is my daughter we're talking about! Speak!"

"ALRIGHT!" Rayburn shouted, pausing to slap his cheeks with both hands and take a deep breath in an attempt to center himself. "My preliminary exam…revealed that she does have a small abdominal tear in her left side…most likely as a result of the altercation she got into last night. However…that is not what concerns me. I've…given her a mild anesthetic which should help to alleviate some of the pain she's feeling. But I'm…reluctant to give her anything stronger, because there IS the safety of the child to consider…"

"W-wait a minute…'child'? Did…did you say 'child'?" Peter stammered, taken aback. But nothing could have prepared either him or Diane as Rayburn paused to look him squarely in the eyes before speaking.

"That's what I'm telling you. Your daughter…is pregnant."

Even Fox and Xanatos couldn't avoid gasping in shock at what they had just heard. Talon and the rest of the clan were no less stunned, all aghast with wide eyes and hanging jaws. But Angela found her gaze instantly turning towards Goliath, whose face became frozen as a white mask of pure horror just as the sun rose.


	5. Chapter 5

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Part Five  
By Aaron

"P…Pregnant?" Peter uttered in disbelief.

"Yes…pregnant," Dr. Rayburn answered, feeling slightly less intimidated, now that more than half the individuals in the room had been turned into stone statues. "I…still need to run some subsequent tests. But…I would estimate she's about three weeks in."

"Hold on, this doesn't make sense. How could she be pregnant?" Peter objected. "Look, I know my daughter, okay? I happen to know she hasn't…been…seeing…"

It wasn't until that moment that things finally began adding up in Peter's head as he slowly turned his gaze back towards Goliath's stone form. And as the look of horror splashed across Goliath's frozen face finally hit home, Peter's eyes suddenly widened in shock as well.

In that instant, the room suddenly grew deathly quiet. Most couldn't speak because they were frozen in stone. And the ones that could didn't know what to say. Peter was still too stunned to give any reaction. Diane and Talon seemed slightly less surprised than Peter at his revelation, but even they didn't know what to make of this sudden news. Xanatos and Fox, meanwhile, felt it wise to stay out of the conversation altogether, since what was happening was clearly none of their business. Besides, any comments they had to make would more than likely have been met with hostility, as their relationship with the Mazas was still dicey at best. Alexander, meanwhile, could only look in the Maza's direction and shrug his shoulders.

Just then, the silence was broken by the sound of crumbling stone, getting the attention of everyone in the room, save Alexander. Looking over towards the Gargoyles, everyone quickly noticed that Adam's statue was beginning to crack. But before anyone could even think to wonder what was happening, a foot smashed out from within, followed by a hard fist. From there, the rest of Adam's body, now human again, burst from its stone shell. Stumbling briefly, he quickly caught his balance as his clothes began to glitter once again, gradually reshaping and redesigning to fit his smaller human form.

"Whooooo! Man, if I have said it once, I've said it a thousand, thousand, THOUSAND, thousand times! I am SO glad I'm not claustrophobic!" he announced boldly, only to look in the Mazas' direction and see on their faces that they had already had enough surprises for one morning.

"And…you guys couldn't care less about that," he quickly observed, turning to make his exit out of the room. "WELL…then I'm just gonna find myself a place to rest up. You guys don't mind if I crash here, do you? What am I saying? Of course you don't."

"Fascinating," Xanatos remarked as Adam strolled out of the room, sharing a look of wonder with Fox before the pair turned to a still-shaken Rayburn's direction. "Doctor, I think now's as good a time as any for you to be brought up to speed. I think it would be best if you came with us."

"Come on," Alexander added, nudging Owen's shoulder while Fox and Xanatos guided Rayburn out of the room. "This is a private party and we're not invited. Besides, we've got enough on our plates, anyway."

"Whoa. So…what do we do now?" Talon asked, once he, Peter and Diane were alone, the news about Elisa still having yet to fully sink in.

"Well, I know what I'm doing. I'm getting to the bottom of this," Peter answered, storming to the door, only to have Diane quickly block his path.

"No, you're not," Diane responded, calmly and methodically. "I'M getting to the bottom of this."

"Diane…," Peter began to object, only to have Diane cut off his words by placing her fingers against his lips and looking into his eyes with a serious gaze.

"Peter," she stated plainly, "Some things, a girl can only tell her mother."

With that, Diane turned and walked out of the room, leaving Peter and Talon alone. All that was left to keep them company was the still, silent forms of the frozen Gargoyles.

* * *

It only took a few minutes for Diane to make her way to the room where Elisa was staying. However, she wasn't at all ready to go inside to face her daughter. After all, she knew full-well the discussion they were about to have. But as she chanced to peer inside, it quickly became apparent that she wasn't the only one who was unprepared. Despite being anesthetized, Elisa was clearly nowhere near relaxed as she remained sitting up in bed, hugging her knees against her chest. And the look in her wide eyes was a million miles away. At that moment, it seemed as though a guided missile could have slammed through the room and not even gotten a rise out of her.

Still, putting the conversation off didn't mean that it wouldn't eventually have to happen. Taking a deep breath and trying to slow her heart, Diane readied herself and gently knocked on the door frame.

"Elisa?" she called softly, announcing her arrival. But her tender voice might as well have been a gunshot as Elisa's head whirled around at her with stunned, piercing eyes.

"Mom?" she exclaimed before finally trying to calm herself, even as she dropped her gaze, quickly losing the courage to look Diane in the eye. "I…guess you heard, huh?"

"You could say that," Diane answered, still maintaining her composure. "How are you feeling?"

"Huh…how do YOU think?" Elisa responded, still looking down.

"I think…you'd give just about anything to not be the one in this room right now," Diane replied simply, while Elisa shrank back into her huddled position, hugging her legs even tighter against herself.

"I…I don't know what to say," she uttered, burying her face into her knees.

Pulling up a nearby chair, Diane sat by the bed, taking a moment for Elisa to find herself again. Of course, Elisa wasn't the only one who was going to need a moment. After all, Diane knew exactly what her next question was going to be. And a part of her definitely didn't want to ask it. Under normal circumstances, she knew it was really none of her business. But then, it was quite clear that these were hardly ordinary circumstances. It took a few more seconds to find her center, but even before Diane opened her mouth to speak, she couldn't help but let out a long, shaky sigh.

"When did it start?" she asked, not even looking in Elisa's direction as she tried to keep her voice steady.

It was at that moment that Elisa's eyes peered up, looking every bit as surprised as when Diane had first walked into the room. Admittedly, there was a part of her that knew this question would ultimately be coming. She just wouldn't have minded if she could have waited a little longer before having to answer it as a heavy, shuddering breath passed her lips.

"A few months ago. Once…every week or two…when I had a night off," she replied, her voice wobbling. "We…never told anyone…but it wasn't long before everyone suspected…"

"…We didn't think anything was going to happen…we didn't think anything COULD happen."

"You know, if you thought that way with anyone else, I'd probably call you a fool," Diane remarked. "But in this case…how COULD you have known?"

"Mom…I'm scared…," Elisa uttered, her voice starting to crack. "…I don't know what to do…"

"Oh, my baby girl…," Diane sighed as she put her arm around Elisa's neck and pulled her close, realizing her daughter was in desperate need of comfort. "Elisa, answer me this…if someone came along and told you that something like this was going to happen…would it really have stopped you?"

"Well…I might have at least been a little more careful," Elisa replied, trying desperately to ease her tension with a weak chuckle as she rested her head on Diane's shoulder.

"Elisa," Diane's voice sounded again, this time with a deathly serious tone indicating that nothing short of a completely honest answer would do, "Do-you-LOVE-him?"

Elisa didn't answer Diane's question right away. Of course, a lengthy pause was hardly what Diane was hoping for. Needing time to think about a question like that was hardly a ringing endorsement. But as Elisa finally raised her head, Diane immediately noticed the welling in her eyes and the trembling of her jaw. And that made it clear that there was not a trace of doubt to be had as Elisa finally opened her mouth and forced the trembling words to come.

"More than I thought I could ever love anyone…"

That was more than enough for now. Realizing it was no longer time for talking, Diane simply put her arms around Elisa, holding her close and gently cradling her head. Elisa, meanwhile, feeling frightened and helpless, could only manage to lift her arms and weakly hug Diane back.

* * *

"I can't believe this…My little girl…and now she's…ARE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF?" Peter fumed, shouting angrily into Goliath's stone face. "You see what you've done? I swear by all that's holy, if I had any sense at all, I'd…!"

Just then, Peter's words were cut off by pair of slow, firm claps. Looking over in the direction of the sound, he quickly caught a glimpse of Talon, who was leaning back against the side wall, regarding Peter's outburst with a rhythmic, methodical applause and a deadpan stare.

"Brilliant Dad…absolutely Oscar-worthy," he remarked plainly as his clapping wore to a halt. "You played your obligatory role as the outraged father to absolute perfection. But now it's time to take the blinders off and face reality, don't you think?"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Peter shot back, his outrage still refusing to subside.

"Oh, come on Dad!" Talon protested. "You're going to stand there and tell me that after all this time, you didn't notice anything? That little glimmer in her eyes whenever she'd look at him…the way her voice would soften just that little, tiny bit, whenever she'd say his name? EVERYONE saw it coming, Dad! To be honest, I'M surprised it actually TOOK so long."

"Everyone saw THIS coming? Her laid up in bed, finding out that's she's having a child that's…?" Peter argued, only to cut himself off at the last second before he said something offensive. "…This is not what I wanted for her, Derek."

"No offense, Dad, but what YOU wanted took a back seat, the day she moved out on her own," Talon declared. "Come on, Dad, you and Mom raised every one of us to follow what we knew, in our hearts, was right. If you've never doubted her before, then respect her choice, now. You KNOW she had to believe he was worth it."

"Besides, you got to admit," Talon continued, pausing to toss Goliath's statue a dignified stare, "She could've done a WHOLE lot worse."

"But Derek, a BABY?" Peter continued to object. "And with HIM? How is she going to…?"

"Dad, give her a little credit," Talon cut him off. "You also raised her to be tough, remember? And I think you'll agree, she's proved that every step of the way. I mean, if you knew what she's been through since she met these guys…you, Mom and Beth…what YOU guys have seen is just the SNOW on the tip of the iceberg. Even I'VE only gotten a little TASTE of it and let's face it. I'm not exactly 'Joe Normal' in this family, myself, anymore. But she's not only SURVIVED in their world, she has THRIVED in it. She RULES in it. And you don't think she can handle a KID? Come on!"

"Trust me, Dad. She may be knocked for a loop right now," Talon added, looking at Peter's face with a confident stare. "But at this point…there is NOTHING she can't handle."

Peter had to admit, Talon was making some pretty persuasive arguments. But as a father, he still couldn't help tossing a worried stare in the direction of Goliath's statue, having absolutely no idea what was going to come next.

* * *

As the day wore on, Elisa eventually managed to fall asleep, even if it was for no other reason than out of sheer exhaustion. But day wasn't going to last forever as the sun eventually began to set. And as the sky began to darken, a familiar bellow echoed through the halls of Castle Wyvern…one that instantly stirred Elisa out of her slumber as she awoke with a start.

"Goliath…?" she uttered instinctively, sitting up in bed.

But Elisa wasn't the only one hoping to see Goliath's presence as the clan was quickly getting their bearings after waking. While the others were still in the middle of stretching out their muscles, Angela's attention was already being diverted.

"Father…?" she uttered, whirling around.

But only emptiness greeted her eyes as she noticed that Goliath had already vanished from the room. Hanging her head briefly in disappointment, she then turned her attention back to the rest of the clan, who had just begun reeling again, remembering Dr. Rayburn's announcement right before they turned to stone.

"Is it true? Could Elisa really be carrying Goliath's baby?" Broadway thought out loud, being the first one to say what everyone else was thinking.

"All my born nights, I've never heard of such a thing…," Hudson uttered, being every bit as flabbergasted as the others.

"Assuming it actually IS Goliath's baby…," Brooklyn remarked pensively.

"Don't even THINK it!" Angela scolded angrily, being quick to come to Goliath and Elisa's defense.

"But Angela, Gargoyles and Humans…? How would it even be possible?" Broadway asked, realizing that Brooklyn did have some grounds for his question.

"Well…what about when Goliath and Elisa were bouncing back and forth from Avalon with Angela and Bronx?" Lexington suggested. "I mean, they were exposed to the island for WEEKS. Could that have had something to do with it?"

"Avalon's magic IS supposed to be intuitive. It's…possible it may have had SOME kind of an effect on them," Angela replied, shrugging her shoulders. "But…regardless of how it happened…what do we do now?"

Looking around to the others, the only response to Angela's questions was dead silence. In fact, every single member of the clan looked as confused as she did.

But there was one other who was even more at a loss than the rest of the clan combined. Crouching on one of the corner towers of the castle, shuddering and on the verge of tears, Goliath could only wrap his wings around himself, unable to let anyone see his shame.

"What…what have I done…?" he uttered in pain, his talons shearing through the stone on the edge of the tower with a simple squeeze of his hands. "How could I have been so foolish…? Elisa…"

"Well…I guess that's a LITTLE encouraging," a familiar voice came from behind as Goliath peered over just enough to see Peter coming down the walkway towards him, with Talon not far behind. "At least it shows that you really do care about her."

But facing Elisa's father was something Goliath had no strength to do, turning away in disgrace with his eyes shut tight. Still, in a strange way, that made things easier for Peter as he walked over to the opposite side of the tower roof and peered over into the courtyard with a sigh. Talon, meanwhile, simply kept his distance, feeling that this was a hurdle they both had to face alone.

"I'd be lying if I said I was happy about this. She's a thousand years younger than you," Peter remarked, trying to cut through the tension with some weak humor. But it soon became apparent that Goliath wasn't appreciating his efforts, still looking away in silence.

"You know, my daughter has always been a very passionate person," Peter continued, giving back the solemn weight that the moment deserved. "Her passions can flow in about a dozen different directions, not all of them good. I suppose she has me to thank for that. But I also know, if she got nothing else from her mother, it's that she never makes any decision without believing in her heart that it's absolutely the right thing to do…"

"…So if I know that…I suppose I have to show as much faith in the choice she made here," Peter went on. "Besides…it's not like I could really take you, anyway."

"You're…showing me more forgiveness than I deserve," Goliath replied weakly, his voice still trembling. "But…something like this…it's never happened before. I can't imagine what would happen if…I…"

"…I don't know what to do."

"Accept it and move on. Take it," a new voice chimed in as Goliath, Peter and Talon turned around to see Fox walking with purpose towards them.

"I've got news for you. You think YOU'RE scared and confused right now? You try being HER. She's downstairs talking to the doctor as we speak," Fox continued, making her way towards Goliath without so much as a pause in her step. "Let me tell you something that only a woman who's about to become a mother can know. Her single greatest relief is knowing that the father of her child is going to be standing by her side. And her deepest, darkest fear is that he WON'T be…"

"…So if you truly love her…and I mean even a FRACTION as much as everyone here knows you do…take my advice," Fox added, staring Goliath in the face with hard eyes and planting her finger squarely into his chest. "Suck it up…and get…in there."

Goliath wasn't the type to take attitude from anyone, least of all someone like Fox. But as they all stood there, facing the cold reality of the situation, there was simply no way for him to refute her argument. And without so much as a word, he walked to the edge and spread his wings, gliding down into the courtyard as Fox turned her attention to Peter and Talon.

"Anyone ELSE want a piece of me?" she commented with a light smirk, indicating that she felt quite satisfied at her handling of the situation.

Making his way along the corridor to the room Elisa was staying in, Goliath found his pace slowing. He noticed it almost immediately, but found it impossible to stop himself. After all, he still had no idea what to say to Elisa when he finally saw her. But as he entered earshot of the room, the voices he heard coming from within stopped him dead in his tracks, just as he reached the door.

"What you're telling me isn't easy to accept," Dr. Rayburn remarked to Elisa, who was sitting on the bed across from him, with Diane holding her hand. "You're ABSOLUTELY certain that you and this…Gargoyle are…?"

"Oh, trust me, Doc," Elisa cut him off right away. "There's NO ONE else."

"Well then, we have a problem. Because you have to realize that we are completely flying blind here," Rayburn noted. "I've already run some follow-up tests over the course of the day. But honestly, I'm not sure what I've learned makes me feel better or worse. For one thing, it seems that your child is developing at a slightly accelerated rate than the average baby. According to my examination, it turns out that you've only been pregnant for two weeks. But your baby is already in its third week of development."

"Well, I…guess that makes some kind of sense," Elisa replied. "Human babies are born in nine months, but Goliath told me once that Gargoyle eggs are usually laid within six."

"Which brings me back to my primary concern," Rayburn continued. "However the two of you managed to pull this off, the fact remains that from what you've told me, Humans and Gargoyles have radically different reproductive systems. Simply put, I don't know if your body has what it takes to bring this child to term. And even if that weren't an issue, we still have absolutely no idea what exactly it is you'll be giving birth TO. To that point, there is a very real possibility that this pregnancy may become a danger to you as well. Those intense pains you felt last night may just be the beginning."

"You asked me what I thought your chances were," Rayburn added straightforwardly. "I'm giving you a fair assessment."

"Thank you, Doctor," Diane answered on Elisa's behalf as she hung her head, realizing right away that this was not the news Elisa wanted to hear.

"I'll…be in touch," Rayburn replied solemnly as he picked himself up and walked out of the room.

It was then that Rayburn noticed Goliath standing just outside the door, and his body seized up at the sight of his massive frame. But Goliath seemed too stunned by what he had just overheard to even notice Rayburn's presence. A fact that Rayburn was quick to press to his advantage as he silently and swiftly made his way down the hall.

Elisa and Diane, however, did notice Rayburn's reaction as he walked out of the room. And it wasn't hard for either of them to deduce what it was he was reacting to, causing Elisa to let out a heavy sigh.

"Mom…," she uttered, looking over in Diane's direction.

"Right," Diane replied, rising to her feet and walking out the door, where Goliath was still standing frozen.

"Goliath?" Diane's voice sounded, snapping Goliath out of his daze as he glanced down to see her looking up at him with serious eyes.

"Diane…I…," Goliath tried to say.

"Ssshhh," she responded quietly, placing her fingers to Goliath's lips to cut him off before taking one of his hands in both of hers. "I'm not the one you need to talk to right now."

With that, Diane took her leave and walked off down the hall. And at that moment, only an open door was left, preventing Goliath from seeing the one person he wanted to see more than anything and yet, couldn't bring himself to face.

"Goliath…?" Elisa's soft voice called uneasily from inside the room.

Summoning all the courage he had left, Goliath slowly trudged inside, where Elisa was waiting. Admittedly, both were holding out for some thin sliver of hope that once they saw each other, they would somehow help to make them feel better. But as Goliath entered, their eyes met for only a fraction of a second before they both lost their nerve and instantly looked away. Pressing forward, Goliath walked over to the foot of the bed, where Elisa remained seated, but the deathly silence in the room might as well have been a deafening scream, as neither one of them could bring themselves to speak for what seemed like an eternity.

"I…guess you heard, huh?" Elisa mumbled under her breath, finally mustering up the nerve.

At first, Goliath could only grumble solemnly and offer up the slightest of nods in reply as Elisa managed to shift her gaze towards him for only a moment before turning away again. But as his eyes shut tight and his hands curled into tight fists, the words finally escaped his lips.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"What?" Elisa responded, turning to Goliath in confusion.

"It's my fault…if I hadn't been so selfish…," Goliath went on, his face crumpling in disgust at himself. "How could I have done this to you?"

"Now wait just a minute. Look at me…come here," Elisa coaxed, rushing to Goliath's side and taking his face in her hands, guiding him back to the bed where he knelt beside her as she sat back down. "Goliath, you have NOTHING to blame yourself for. I was in the room, too, you know. In fact, if memory serves, I was the one who STARTED it, remember?"

"Listen to me…we both jumped off this cliff together. No one twisted my arm, I knew EXACTLY what I was doing," Elisa continued, her soft, caressing hands on Goliath's cheeks eventually drawing his eyes to meet hers. "Hey, do you remember when we said we had no regrets about path we'd chosen. Well, I STILL have no regrets…not for that first night…and not for a single night since."

"But…but, this child…," Goliath began to say, only to have Elisa take his hand and gently place it over her belly.

"Goliath…I don't know what this means either," Elisa replied, pressing her forehead to Goliath's and looking deeply into his eyes, even as her voice began to falter. "But I know this…I can't face it without you. I'm not strong enough on my own. You have no idea how many times…you're the only one who gives me the courage to…to…"

At that moment, Elisa weakened, losing the nerve to speak. Shutting her eyes and shuddering, she seemed on the brink of cracking at any moment. But just as it seemed that she was going to succumb to her despair, the soft touch of the back of Goliath's fingers caressing her cheek pulled her back from the edge. Managing to raise her head, she looked up into Goliath's warm, tender eyes. But even she had absolutely no way of predicting how his next words, so simple and direct, could just reach in and grasp her soul.

"How could I EVER abandon…the woman I love?"

Again, Elisa appeared to be on the verge of breaking down, in spite of her smile, as her eyes welled up and her bottom lip trembled. Even as she took Goliath's face in her hands and met his lips in a long, gentle kiss, she felt like she was going to start sobbing at any moment. However, as the warmth of Goliath's wings softly wrapped around her, it was as if she could feel all the courage she lost flowing back into her. And as she followed up their kiss with a pair of lingering pecks on Goliath's lips, Elisa quickly managed to find her center and regain her confidence once again. But even as she and Goliath tenderly pressed their foreheads together and took in the moment for all it was worth, savoring their closeness, Elisa found that she still wasn't too proud to allow a single tear to roll down her cheek.

* * *

"Angela? Angela!" Broadway called as he searched the corridors to see where she'd made off to after she wandered off from the rest of the clan. He'd soon get his answer a moment later as his trek found him exiting out to one of the walkways between the towers and seeing Angela standing alone, looking up at the sky.

"Angela? Are you okay?" Broadway asked softly, trying his best not to be too forward, especially after he heard Angela's remorseful sigh.

"I'm worried about my father, Broadway," she answered sorrowfully. "These last two nights, I've never seen him so frightened…not just frightened, TERRIFIED. It's as if his entire world has been shattering all around him."

"I know…," was all Broadway could utter in response. After all, with everything that had happened to Elisa, and now news of her pregnancy, it wasn't hard to imagine Goliath's normally steady nerves being frayed raw.

"I feel so powerless," Angela went on, inwardly cursing her self. "I just wish there was SOMETHING I could do to help him."

"Sometimes…all you can do is just be there for someone…let them know you're around," Broadway replied, moving in closer. "I know it may not seem like much, but believe me, with you, that's A LOT."

"After all," Broadway added, throwing in a gentle smile. "I know it always does wonders for me."

Angela couldn't help but be touched by Broadway's words, responding with a bashful smile and only the slightest of giggles. Sensing her welcome, Broadway sidled up behind her, gently wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder. Angela, meanwhile, was all-too happy to return the tenderness, placing one hand over Broadway's and reaching up with the other to caress his cheek. And as the two softly cuddled together, Broadway's wings came into play, draping around Angela like a warm blanket, as if making a promise to keep her safe.

However, even though it would have made little difference, Broadway and Angela weren't as alone as they thought at that moment. And their spectator was one who was becoming all-too regular in recent weeks. Watching the scene play out between them from a darkened corridor on the other side of the courtyard, Brooklyn could only stare longingly as he let out yet another heavy sigh of despair.

"You dwell too much on what isn't," a female voice sounded behind him, causing Brooklyn to whirl around and see the Gargoyle, Katana, who had disappeared almost immediately after the clan awoke, leaning against the wall just a few yards away. "A wise leader accepts things as they are."

"Yeah?" Brooklyn replied cynically. "And what if what things are is absolutely nothing at all?"

"Do you honestly believe that? That you only get once chance and if you don't succeed, it's all over?" Katana argued, walking over to him. "Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that there truly is someone out there for everyone. I believe that everyone is waiting for that someone…even if they don't know it yet. Waiting for a life…for a world that they don't even know exists…until that one comes along and shows it to them. And let me tell you one thing I KNOW as well. When that one DOES come…and shows you what you've been missing…it honestly makes you wonder, every day, how you ever lived without them."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Brooklyn asked, not being entirely certain where this time-traveler was going.

Reaching up, Katana gently cupped Brooklyn's face in her hands, her thumb gently caressing his cheek. And as she looked into his eyes with a warm, tender stare, it seemed as though she was about to speak. But just as Katana was about to let the words come, she suddenly stopped herself and simply regarded Brooklyn with a gentle smile.

"It can wait," she answered simply, stroking Brooklyn's hair for a brief moment before turning around and proceeding back down the corridor, pausing only once to toss a serious look over her shoulder. "But what's about to be said in Xanatos' office, can't. If I were you, I might want to think about assembling the troops."

With that, Katana walked off, leaving a perplexed Brooklyn alone with her warning. He wasn't sure what was going on. But he was fairly certain that any advice coming from someone from the future was something that should probably be taken seriously.

* * *

Taking Katana's advice, Brooklyn called the rest of the clan together to meet in Xanatos' office, where Katana was already waiting, along with Xanatos, Fox, Owen, Adam and Alexander. Talon and the Mazas were also in attendance. Even Matt managed to make his way over from the precinct. The last one to arrive was Elisa, with Goliath right behind her, one of his hands holding hers as the other gently rested on her shoulder.

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here. So…everyone back in their happy place?" Alexander announced lightly, only to look out into a sea of grim stares. "Close enough?"

"Elisa, are you alright?" Matt piped up, interrupting the proceedings. "Your family told me what happened."

"It's alright, Matt. I'm fine," Elisa answered dismissively.

"Elisa, are you sure you should be up?" Diane wondered. "After all, the doctor did say…"

"Mom…I'm fine," Elisa replied assertively. "Besides, I need to hear this."

"Actually, yeah, she kinda does," Alexander remarked, stepping forward to point out that he would be taking charge of the meeting. "Okay, first of all, before I go any further, let me just warn everybody that the circumstances of my being here, along with my two colleagues, are rather extensive. Not everyone here is going to know all the players involved and there are, in fact, some of you, who aren't going to know ANY. Ergo, some of you are going to get lost along the way and some of you will not. I'm just giving you that little heads up right now."

"Our story begins, as these stories often do, in the middle," Alexander went on. "However, for our purposes, we'll be going back a bit farther to when this whole thing really got started, which was about six months ago…Or at least, six months ago for the three of us."

"Riiiiiight," Matt replied cynically, before turning to the others with a whisper. "Who IS this guy?"

"It's Xanatos and Fox's son, Alexander…from the future," Angela answered back plainly.

"Okay, I'm lost already," Matt responded, shaking his head in confusion.

"Moving right along…," Alexander announced as a compartment in the left arm of his armor opened up and flashed a white light, revealing a series of holographic images to illustrate his tale. "Six months ago…or 25 years from now, for everyone else in this room…Oberon and Boreas met in a series of negotiations in order to forge a treaty of friendship between Avalon and New Olympus. Upon the signing of their agreement, Boreas commissioned New Olympus' top scientific minds to begin the construction of this…"

"This device was created specifically to form a window into time, allowing one sight into, and limited interaction with, history," Alexander continued as his hologram shifted to a three-dimensional spinning model of the mechanism. "It was designed for one purpose and one purpose only…the location and retrieval the Phoenix Gate, which our dear friend, Goliath here, tossed into the time stream, so that Boreas might present it to Oberon as a token of goodwill…"

"Wait a minute…you're saying that these guys built a TIME MACHINE?" Lexington exclaimed.

"An oversimplification, but essentially correct," Alexander answered. "Unfortunately, before the device could be put to its intended use…it was stolen."

At that moment, Alexander's hologram showed a brief glimpse of the darkened lab where a shadowy figured snaked through the room, smashing everything in its path before stealing the machine and disappearing. Even as Alexander paused the viewing of the footage, all that could be seen was a blurred, shadowy figure and a pair of glowing, blood-red eyes, bringing out more than one pair of curious squints out of everyone else in the room.

"The thief then fled New Olympus to the Human world, where the New Olympians were still reluctant to follow," Alexander went on. "However, Oberon, who was made aware of the situation, felt obligated to offer his aid, so as to honor their new-found treaty."

"Of course, in light of The Gathering, and because of Oberon's law, forbidding direct interference, they couldn't just come in force and lay siege to the world," Alexander continued, before pointing a finger in his own direction. "Luckily, they didn't HAVE to, since they already had someone here. So for convenience sake, Oberon decided to come to me."

"He had the gall to ask YOU for a favor?" Fox remarked with contempt. "After he basically tried to kidnap you the second you were born?"

"Oh, that's in the past. You're living in the past, Mom. Quit living in the past," Alexander replied dismissively before his face took on a grim air. "And anyway, he and I have already had a rather lengthy discussion on that subject…most of which he did NOT enjoy, I can assure you."

"Besides…Goliath here already knows full-well that there are certain…advantages to having Oberon in your debt. So we didn't mind too much doing his bidding on this one," Alexander added, getting back to the story. "Unfortunately, by the time we tracked down the device and had our little fugitive cornered, they had already made enough adjustments to it to allow the machine to actually travel back to the past…that is, to say, YOUR present…although we didn't know that at the time."

"They sent you after something and didn't tell you what it was?" Angela noted.

"Unfortunately, New Olympus still prides itself on keeping its secrets…something Boreas and I are going to have to have a little talk about, the next time I see him," Alexander answered. "In any event, we had no idea what was going on…especially after our curious cat, Adam here, picked up a piece of the device that he broke off in the chase and ended up vanishing as well."

"Yeah…him…," Elisa responded, tossing a cynical look in the direction of Adam, who could only grin and shrug. "So, are you going to tell us what the deal is with our guy, here? Particularly, what was with that Gargoyle 'Jekyll-and-Hyde' act he pulled last night?"

"Don't get greedy, Elisa," Alexander replied. "There's only so much I can get away with telling you. And believe me I'm pushing it, as it is."

"Well, can you AT LEAST tell us if he's actually a cop?" Matt chimed in. "I REALLY don't want to hear that we had two guys in one year, infiltrate our precinct, pretending to be New York's finest."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Adam answered simply. "Only problem was, I don't have any credentials that would be valid for another 20 years. That's why I needed the whole LA angle."

"So that whole story with the LA tech ring, that was just a smokescreen," Elisa mused.

"Well, not entirely," Adam responded. "I figured if our guy had a busted time machine, it might need repairs. And 25 years in the past, you're not going to get those components from raiding toaster ovens. So I was hoping maybe I could trace any high tech thefts in the area to see if I could run down where our guy might have been holed up. But even if that didn't work, I still needed SOME reason to stay close to YOU."

"I don't get it. Why was it so important that you stay around Elisa?" Broadway asked.

"Because their thief is one who's been trying to kill me all week," Elisa answered first, much to the clan's surprise, before stepping forward and glancing over in Matt's direction. "That was the piece of the puzzle we were missing."

"How did you suddenly come to that conclusion, Lass?" Hudson inquired.

"Something Castaway said when he attacked me the other night…," Elisa replied, as she thought back to the night Castaway had her cornered on the rooftop in the Bronx…

… … … …

"Did you really think you could get away with such a thing? DID YOU THINK I WOULD LET YOU?"

"FOR THE PURITY OF OUR RACE!"

… … … …

"He was…out of his mind. I thought he was just babbling," Elisa noted before placing her hand on her belly. "But now it makes sense. Think about it. What could possibly make a guy like John Castaway crazier than knowing that a HUMAN was carrying a GARGOYLE'S child? That's why he set up the whole escape attempt, so he could go after me."

"But…how could Castaway have possibly known Elisa was pregnant with Goliath's baby? At the time, WE didn't even know," Lexington asked before the pieces finally started fitting together in his head. "Unless…"

"…Unless someone from the future went and TOLD him," Brooklyn chimed in, finishing Lexington's thought as Elisa made a gunshot motion with her hand, indicating that everyone else in the room had gotten it right.

"Okay, that's one riddle down," Matt thought out loud before turning his attention back to Adam. "Still, you weren't pulling this off, alone. Our Captain said she talked to YOUR Captain in LA. But if the whole LA thing was a cover-up, who did she ACTUALLY get into contact with? Someone's been helping you out."

"How about it, Owen?" Xanatos piped up, much to the bewilderment of everyone in the room. "I believe this is where you come in."

"Him? What does HE have to do with anything?" Talon asked, as perplexed as everyone else.

"It's the only logical explanation," Xanatos remarked. "He was the one doing most of the inquiries to help track Adam down…and yet, not once at any point, did he find anything. Owen NEVER finds nothing. But then, when we discovered the 'intruders' in Alex's nursery, instead of coming with and Fox and I to confront them, HE was the one who stayed behind to scan the security system and discover that Alexander's personal security code was used to gain access. Hardly Owen's style at all…unless he knew to look for something WE didn't."

Owen had to admit to being somewhat taken aback by Xanatos' statement as everyone else in the room regarded him with curious stares. But it was a momentary lapse as he soon straightened his glasses, regaining his usual stoic appearance.

"As always, Mr. Xanatos, your deductive mind never fails to impress," Owen responded simply. "I am the one who has been aiding young Adam in his efforts. It was I who discovered him when he was pulled into our time, four nights ago. The phone call your Captain received was a rerouted communication through my private line in Xanatos Enterprises Los Angeles offices. I was also responsible for helping him evade the security patrols last night after the Jackal/Hyena attack."

"He was your mystery appointment the other night. The one you said we didn't need to know about yet," Fox realized, as Owen responded with a simple nod.

"Wait a minute…how does HE know so much?" Broadway thundered in, drawing everyone else's wonder once again.

"I'm unaware of more than you might think. I only know what I was told," Owen answered, looking over in Alexander's direction. "The truth is, I received instructions two weeks ago…from Alexander."

"Oh, well, I guess that explains everything right there…come again!" Brooklyn responded sarcastically.

"I have no explanation for how Alexander managed to contact me through electronic mail," Owen explained. "All I know is that the message carried his personal security code. The message contained detailed instructions, outlining the exact time and location of Adam's arrival, but also stated that Alexander, himself, would not appear for another four days. It was my responsibility to insure that Adam had the resources to take care of himself in that time, and also see to Detective Maza's safety, until Alexander arrived to assist. To that end, I was given a separate set of instructions to be read only by Adam, no doubt warning him of the various attempts that would be made on Detective Maza's life over the next few nights, all of which have already passed."

"How DID you get here?" Fox wondered, looking over at her future son. "If what you're saying is true, then all the pieces of the time machine were here and you were stuck in the future. You had no way to get back."

"The same way HE did," Alexander answered, glancing over at Adam, before raising his hand revealing a small, metallic cube, grasped between his thumb and forefinger. "This is what's called a lens. The device the New Olympians constructed consists of dozens of these tiny cubes. They create minute refractions in space/time. Get enough of these things working together and you get a window to peer through. What you're seeing, in my hand, is the lens that brought Adam here. It came off the device during our initial pursuit. As near as I can tell, our thief modified the machine to create a portal, fled back here and the lens followed in its wake, dragging Adam along with it, once he picked it up."

"That very same lens is currently sitting in a safe deposit box in Midtown, waiting for Alexander to come and retrieve it…25 years from now," Owen added as Alexander snapped the cube back into his fist. "It was part of the instructions Adam and I received, to insure that Alexander would be able to follow him back here once he arrived."

"How do you suddenly know all this?" Angela wondered, looking in Adam's direction. "Didn't you just say you didn't know anything about what the device was?"

"Simple…I told myself," Alexander answered with a grin, whipping out a large envelope from behind his back.

"Of course he did," Brooklyn grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"After Adam disappeared and Alexander and I couldn't find him, we returned home. Once we'd arrived, we discovered that Owen was waiting for us, with this envelope and this note," Katana explained as Alexander walked over to Goliath, who had been silent the entire time, handing the attached letter into his hand for he and Elisa to look at.

"Alex, if everything goes as expected, you should be receiving this only a few hours after you saw Adam disappear in the old Manhattan tunnels," Goliath read aloud. "Follow these instructions and there's a chance you can save not only his life…but everyone's."

"I know you can do this. After all, I did it myself," Elisa read on as she and Goliath regarded Alexander with a stunned look. "Signed…Alexander Fox Xanatos."

"I'm afraid the rest of this is for my eyes only," Alexander noted, taking the note back before sliding it into the envelope. "This package contains detailed instructions of how to find Adam, the key to the safe deposit box where the lens is being stored…and how to make sure that our thief doesn't end up using that machine to destroy the world."

"Yeah, okay…so…just tell me how we're going to find this guy before my headache gets any bigger," Matt remarked, trying as desperately as Talon and the Mazas to follow everything that had been said so far.

"We're going to find our thief, the same way we did the first time…by tracking the machine," Alexander answered. "Like most things, this device functions on a specific electromagnetic signature. Xanatos Enterprises currently has about two dozen satellites in orbit that can detect that signature…and I've instructed them all to look for it. All that has to happen is for it to be turned on…"

"…Anybody want something to eat while we're waiting?"

* * *

Roughly two hours had passed since Adam, Alexander and Katana had explained the situation in Xanatos' office and everyone was still hovering around, waiting for Alexander's search to bear fruit. While some like Goliath, Elisa and Xanatos remained patiently vigilant, there were others who were beginning to grow increasingly uncomfortable with waiting. And some had even left the room to go milling about into other areas of the castle.

Lexington, however, had chosen to combat his impatience by looking after Little Alexander, who giggled and cooed around a small collection of toys around him. Seeing the little one so happy was enough to bring Lexington some contentment. But as he looked over to see Alexander's future self reclining by the computer on Xanatos' desk, he couldn't help but feel an eerie sensation creep up his spine.

"Are you seeing this? I don't think I can remember the last time I saw Lexington looking so…perplexed," Fox murmured in amusement to Alexander, who could only respond with a slight chuckle before regarding her with a more serious gaze.

"You know you still owe him an apology, right?" he noted simply.

"For what?" Fox immediately responded, only to have Alexander look back up into her eyes.

"You know for what," he answered soberly.

The look on Alexander's face could only draw a heavy sigh from Fox. After all, she really did know what he was talking about. Swallowing her previous objection, she took a deep breath and walked over to where Lexington was playing with Little Alexander.

"How's he doing?" she asked, just to start things off with some small talk.

"Living it up, as always," Lexington replied.

The sight of Little Alexander, giggling and shaking the teddy bear in his hands, drew an instant smile of tenderness from Fox. But it was a fleeting moment as she turned her attention over to Lexington, realizing she had to ultimately bite the bullet.

"Look Lex, I just wanted to say…I'm sorry," she uttered, drawing a curious look form Lexington. "It's just…that night when Pat Doyle had Alex kidnapped…those things I said…I shouldn't have blamed you for that."

"Hey…you're a mother," Lexington replied dismissively. "You were entitled."

"Mothers are also entitled to shout stupid things at Little League games. It doesn't mean I want to do THAT, either," Fox stated before she and Lexington both glanced over towards Alexander's future self, still sitting by the computer.

"We can't be the only ones who think it's weird to see him like this," Lexington noted, before noticing Katana out of the corner of his eye, leaning up against a wall, just a couple feet away. "Hey, I'm guessing you've gotten to know Alex pretty well, right? Does he…turn out okay?"

"I think you already know that I can't answer that," Katana replied straightforwardly.

"Oh, come on. It's not like he's asking if he becomes Valedictorian or if he's dating one of the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders," Fox shot back, looking over at Katana with a solemn gaze. "Just…tell us what he's like."

At first, Katana said nothing, turning her gaze over in Alexander's direction and staring at him intently. But when she finally turned back to Lexington and Fox, her words were as simple and direct as the expression on her face.

"He's his parents' child."

"That was meant as a compliment, I hope," Xanatos chimed in, having overheard the conversation as he walked by, only to draw another pause from Katana before answering.

"Sometimes," she finally replied, flashing a cryptic half-smile.

"OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!" Alexander shouted, startling everyone in the room as he rolled back in his desk chair. "Somebody arrest me now! Because it has got to be A CRIME to be this good!"

"No false modesty on your part," Brooklyn remarked uncomfortably after calming down from the initial shock.

"What would be the point of THAT?" Alexander answered with a smirk, drawing an amused grin from Fox as she began to see just what Katana was talking about.

"I assume that means you've located your quarry," Goliath stated, breaking up the idle chit-chat.

"Check it out," Alexander replied, turning the computer screen around to a map of the city, only to reveal a flashing red dot. "The machine's been activated. FIFTEEN seconds after it was turned on, we got a hit. That's all it took. She's right there."

"Well then, what are we standing around here for? Let's move!" Lexington piped up as everyone charged out the door.

* * *

It took only minutes for Goliath and Brooklyn to assemble the rest of the clan and gather in the courtyard of the castle. Talon, Matt and the Mazas were also in attendance. Even Xanatos, eager to defend the invasion of his home, had arrived on the scene, clad in his Steel Clan Exo-Frame.

"Hmmm, looks like everyone's ready to go," Alexander noted. "Guess I'd better do the same."

No sooner did the words escape Alexander's lips, than his armor suddenly began to change. Razor sharp, metal claws sprang from his armored wrists, folding over the fingers of his hands. A small compartment then opened from his chest plate, releasing a golden mask, exactly in the shape of Fox's eye tattoo, which Alexander immediately placed over his eyes.

"Impressive," Xanatos had to remark.

"You ought to know. You helped design it," Alexander noted with a smirk before turning his gaze over to Adam. "But something tells me I'm not the only one who'd better put his game face on for this one."

"Right," Adam noted, taking a moment to compose himself.

"Now wait just a minute. You want him to turn into that…whatever again?" Brooklyn objected as the rest of the clan immediately showed signs of alarm. "Uh, I'm gonna have to object to that."

"I'm afraid I have to agree," Goliath responded. "That form of his is clearly too dangerous to trust him in the middle of a battle with it."

"Relax," Adam offered his word. "Trust me…you just saw the bad side the last time. This time around, it's going to be a little different."

Goliath and the rest of the clan weren't nearly as sure of Alexander's claims. Even as Katana nodded at them to offer her silent assurances as well, that did little to ease their concerns. In fact, each one of them ended up taking a step back, making sure to keep themselves in front of Matt and the Mazas as Adam shut his eyes and took a wide stance, clenching his fists tightly.

"Like a Gargoyle awakening from their stone sleep, Adam's transformation creates a rush of adrenaline in his body. This surge offsets any pain he may feel while changing, but it can also affect his thought process," Alexander explained. "If he changes on his own, then he can handle it. But if he, say, gets injured or angry…well, you've already seen what that's like one time too many."

Alexander's words, however, were far beneath Adam's notice at that moment. In fact, he could hear hardly anything except his own heartbeat thundering in his ears, racing faster and faster. Even Goliath and the others were quick to take note as a large vein on Adam's neck began to protrude out, his entire body shuddering as his fists rolled up tighter and tighter. But just as they were about to wonder just what could possibly happen next, Adam's glowing eyes snapped open, with a wicked smile crossing his face.

Before anyone else could react, Adam's body bulged in size, his muscle mass and height instantly growing, along with his hair. Talons sprang from his hands and feet as a row of fangs lined his mouth. A horned brow crossed over his eyes as giant wings and a long, heavy tail burst from his back. And while the clan and the Mazas could only stand in dumbfounded shock, Adam reared back his head with a piercing howl that echoed through the courtyard before letting loose with an explosion of maniacal laughter. But just as Goliath and the others were about to fear the worst, Adam suddenly froze, taking a deep breath and firmly centering himself once again.

"There…that's better," he stated calmly, cracking his neck before looking down at his clothes, which were now in tatters once again. "Eeeuw, but THIS isn't. Gonna have to do something there."

While everyone else was still reeling from Adam's transformation, Adam was activating the mystical fabric that made up his clothes and was changing once again. Within twinkling seconds, Adam's shredded garments had altered size and shape, putting him in a black suit and a Spencer-Mess style jacket, along with a white shirt, a black tie and fingerless black gloves.

"THAT'S what you're going to be wearing into battle?" Katana commented, voicing her disapproval while Adam straightened his hair into a ponytail.

"Hey, If I'm going to a party, I'm gonna DRESS for it," Adam replied, straightening his tie before pulling out his sunglasses and putting them on.

"That makes two of us," Fox's voice suddenly chimed in, getting everyone's attention as they looked over to see her walking toward them after putting Little Alexander down to sleep, dressed in her old uniform from her days with The Pack. "Oh yeah, two years and a kid later and this thing STILL fits like a glove. Maybe I'M the one who should be making exercise videos."

But Fox wasn't the only one with plans to join the expedition. Walking just a few paces behind, checking her gun to make sure it had a full magazine before reloading, was Elisa, an angry scowl across her face.

"Elisa?" Matt uttered, looking as surprised as Goliath and the others.

"Matt, not…one…word," Elisa replied grimly as she walked past him, before looking towards the others. "Derek, you either. Goliath, same for you."

"Fox, my dear, what are you doing?" Xanatos asked with concern.

"Don't argue with me, David," Fox answered sternly, brandishing a large laser rifle. "Whoever's behind this, they brought this blight upon OUR house, endangered OUR son! You are NOT the only one who wants a piece of this guy!"

"The more the merrier. You want to come for a run, too?" Alexander called over to Owen, who remained standing on the sidelines with his usual stern visage. "I know you've been wanting to stretch your legs since this whole thing started. Besides, you never know. I could use someone to watch my back."

Elisa, Matt and the Mazas were quite surprised at Alexander's invitation, even as Owen couldn't disguise an enthusiastic smile. But they were all the more stunned when a swirl of light appeared around Owen's body before exploding in a burst of color. And suddenly, where Owen once stood, the Trickster, Puck was now floating inches off the ground, an amused smirk across his face.

"Whoa…," Elisa uttered under her breath. "Goliath, I know you told me about this…but that is just FREAKY."

"Finally!" Puck declared, flitting around the group before stopping in front of Alexander. "I was beginning to think you'd NEVER ask."

"Oh, I am never going to get used to this…," Peter muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Elisa, come here," Diane pleaded. "You can't be serious about going along with this…"

"DEAD serious," Elisa cut Diane off, looking into her eyes with a stern glare. "Mom, whoever set all this up, they didn't just come after me. They came after your GRANDCHILD…!"

"THIS…IS…PERSONAL!"

"Can we go now?" Puck asked impatiently. "Is this finally everyone?"

"Now, wait just a minute…!" Peter started to object.

"I heard 'yes'! Let's roll," Puck announced, cutting Peter off.

Before Matt or the Mazas could react, Puck threw out his arms, enveloping the entire party in a burst of glittering smoke. Within seconds, the haze cleared, revealing no trace of anyone where they had just stood. And as Matt, Peter and Diane looked around at the empty courtyard, they could only respond with stunned silence, with none of them having any idea where Elisa or the others had gone…or what they were about to walk in to face.


	6. Chapter 6

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Part Six  
By Aaron

The dark clouds overhead were alive with flashes of cloaked brilliance as lightning danced around in the night sky. However, one such burst shone brighter than the others as an enormous ball of light streaked down from above and slammed into the ground, exploding on impact to reveal Goliath and the others, having been transported using Puck's magic. Goliath and the rest of the clan quickly recovered from the experience, as did Talon, Xanatos and Alexander. But for Elisa and Fox, the only two not gifted with naturally enhanced strength or protective armor, the experience proved to be much more jarring.

"Uunnh, okay…new rule," Fox groaned, pulling herself out of her daze as Goliath helped Elisa to stay on her feet. "He has SERIOUSLY got to warn us whenever he's going to do that."

"I'm fairly certain I said, 'Let's roll'," Puck argued innocently, drawing a dirty look from Fox before everyone else turned around to observe the old, abandoned manor they had been transported to.

"Huh. Creepy mansion, stormy night," Brooklyn observed, looking around uncomfortably. "It looks like your thief never met a cliché they didn't like."

"Let's focus more on whoever is inside," Goliath stated. "Now I want everyone to understand one thing. Whatever happens, our primary concern must be Fox and Elisa's safety. If either of them falls into any danger, we get them out. Agreed?"

There wasn't an ounce of hesitation from the others as they each responded with a sober nod. Elisa and Fox, however, were both wearing expressions that were considerably less agreeable.

"I realize that neither one of you likes what he just said," Xanatos replied intently. "But frankly, I don't think anyone else here cares."

Bronx, meanwhile, was already moving forward as he began sniffing along the ground for any signs of their quarry. But it was only seconds before he picked up on a scent he didn't like, looking towards the mansion with an angry growl.

"Well, Bronx already knows someone's here," Angela noted, only to have everyone's attention diverted by a radiant light that pierced the sky through the skylight in the mansion's roof.

"Hm…I don't think we needed his nose for THAT," Lexington remarked.

"Well, no sense going in through the front door," Xanatos declared. "Like most things in life, I prefer to start at the top, anyway."

"Before we move forward with that thought," Alexander remarked, pulling a laser pistol from Katana's bag and putting his hand on Adam's shoulder to get his attention. "Here. It's an upgraded prototype model just off the line. Enhanced firepower, three-millisecond recharge and the recoil is virtually nil."

"Heh…well what can I say?" Adam replied with a smirk, checking the pistol's grip before shoving it inside a jacket holster which magically appeared out of his shirt. "I always love trying out new material on the road."

Unbeknownst to Adam, however, Alexander had another motive for getting his attention. Placing his hand on Adam's shoulder had allowed him to remove a small tracking tag from underneath the collar of his jacket. Staring at the metallic bauble between his fingers for a brief moment, he let out a small chuckle before flicking it onto the ground behind him.

Sure enough, perched on a rooftop in the middle of the city, Demona gazed intently at a small radar screen in her hand, following Adam's whereabouts. She had no idea how he had suddenly gone from the Eyrie Building to practically across town in less than a second. But at that moment, she didn't care. After suffering such a humiliating defeat at his hands the night before, here eyes glowed as she took off into the sky, eager for Round Two.

* * *

Back at the mansion, Puck used his magic once again to transport the entire party over the rooftop. Goliath and Xanatos each made sure that Elisa and Fox made a safe descent along with the others. However, Fox was in no mood for making a graceful entrance.

"Alright people!" she commanded, brandishing her laser rifle and preparing to fire, "LIGHT 'EM UP!"

No sooner said than done. Between Fox's rifle, Xanatos' wrist laser, Adam's laser pistol, two wrist lasers from Alexander and a pair of electrical streams from Talon, the entire skylight was reduced to splinters.

Inside the mansion, the entire topmost floor had been hollowed out into one large room. Perched on a pedestal in the middle was a chest harness, wired to all the lens cubes that made up the New Olympians' time machine, every one of the tiny devices aglow. Greedily, a pair of hands reached out for the harness, only to be shocked by the thunderous impact of the party's attack, followed by the shattered rubble of the skylight raining into the room.

"Goin' in!" Adam called out, folding his wings closed and diving in at top speed.

"What are you doing?" Hudson called as Adam disappeared into the smoke that billowed up from the blast.

"He's crazy!" Broadway exclaimed.

"Oh, I know…," Katana sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Stumbling through the haze, a blurry figure reached out to grab the harness and pull it off the pedestal. A moment later, Adam came streaking down, the impact of his landing knocking away most of the smoke and dust before a flap of his wings took care of the rest.

"WE'RE HEEE-EEERE!" he announced as the rest of the team gently landed in behind him.

But Goliath and the rest of the clan were unprepared for what they saw next. They didn't need to see the face of their opponent. The pale blue skin and blood-red hair were more than evidence enough. Still, as Demona turned to face them with an evil chuckle, the harness strapped around her chest, they still couldn't help but all hang their jaws open in shock.

"Hmph, I'll be honest. This is actually a bit of a surprise," Demona declared wickedly. "Still…too little, too late."

"Wait…Demona is the thief?" Angela exclaimed in disbelief.

"No she's not. But someone really wants us to THINK that," Elisa answered calmly, her gaze trained squarely on Demona's eyes. "Don't you think you've overplayed your hand at this point?"

Elisa's statement came as a surprise to everyone in the room. But no one seemed more surprised than Demona, who simply looked back at Elisa with a perplexed stare.

"Oh, that's right. You keep forgetting that I'm a Detective," Elisa remarked, taking a few steps forward. "You really expect me to believe that Demona was behind all these attacks on me? Please. I know Demona. If she wanted to kill me…and I mean, REALLY wanted to kill me…she'd have come after me on her own from Day One. She wouldn't waste time manipulating lunatics like John Castaway or putting out contracts. If you're REALLY Demona, why play these games?"

"Not to mention that Demona has already attempted to alter time before, only to have met with failure," Goliath added to Elisa's deduction, walking up behind her. "Demona may be irrational at times, but never so foolish as to waste her efforts on an undertaking she knew was futile."

"Ah, but there is someone we do know who wouldn't know that," Elisa continued, "Someone who would know his way around New Olympus and who DOES like to play games and manipulate people. Someone who would have the ability to gain access to places like Castaway's jail cell…someone who can make himself look like anyone he wants…"

"…Isn't that right…Proteus?"

"Demona" spoke not a word, but merely regarded Elisa with a venomous smirk. But just then, her body began to shift and warp like liquid rubber. And suddenly, within moments, a grinning Proteus stood before the attack party, much to the shock of some, but much to the anger of others.

"You again…," Hudson growled, clearly being one of the angrier ones as he brandished his sword.

"Oh, VERY good, my dear," Proteus taunted, "So nice to see that everything you've been through the last few days hasn't dulled your senses too badly."

"Apparently, New Olympus needs to think about making some considerable improvements to its security systems," Angela noted, her eyes glowing red with fury as well.

"Xanatos Enterprises has made some very reasonable offers," Alexander replied plainly.

"I'm sure, like most everyone else in this room, I have no shortage of questions to ask," Xanatos stated, raising his fist and activating his wrist laser. "But given the circumstances, I have no qualms about shooting first."

Fox needed no encouragement to follow her husband's lead as the pair each fired a searing laser blast in Proteus' direction. Unfortunately, Proteus merely continued smirking as both streams passed harmlessly through his body and slammed into the wall behind him.

"I'd say that was a nice try," Proteus replied mockingly. "But that would be insincere."

"He's using the machine to phase himself a split-second out of alignment with normal time," Alexander observed. "We can't touch him."

"That means my magic is useless as well," Puck added while Proteus merely chuckled.

"So what's the deal, Proteus?" Elisa demanded. "Why con guys like Castaway into trying to kill me?"

"Oh please, 'con'? He couldn't be restrained," Proteus replied, pausing briefly to cause his belly to bulge for a moment. "All I had to do was spill the beans about your little…'surprise'…and he was foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Even I was surprised at how easy it was."

"And the contract out on me…? Hiring Jackal and Hyena…? Where did you get the money for that?" Elisa continued. "I've got to believe that New Olympus doesn't deal in recognized legal tender."

"Oh, that. You can thank Demona for that. Or at least, you can thank her money," Proteus explained straightforwardly. "After all, Demona and I have had engaged in the odd dealing or two over the years. It was hardly a challenge to gain access to one of her personal accounts."

While Elisa was getting Proteus to talk inside the mansion, outside, Demona had located the tracer that she'd planted on Adam during their battle the night before. Looking up at the lights piercing the topmost floor, it didn't take long to determine where he was most likely to be. But not being sure exactly what it was she was walking into, she chose to act with stealth, leaping onto the roof beside a nearby window and quietly peering inside. A smart move as it turned out, since once she looked in, she saw herself looking into a room filled with enemies. A few faces she didn't recognize could also be seen, but she had to believe that they couldn't be friendly. However, as she peered in, her Gargoyle hearing could make out every word that was being said. And she had arrived on the scene just as Proteus had begun talking about her.

"And what about Demona?" Elisa went on. "If all you needed was her money, why get her mixed up in all this?"

"Merely a case of misdirection in case she managed to close in on me," Proteus answered, transforming back into his Demona disguise. "In a way, she was even easier to wrap around my finger than Castaway was. All that jealousy and frustration…you've been her sights for years, my dear. She would have believed ANYTHING I told her…as long as it gave her an excuse to pull the trigger."

Hearing Proteus explain himself, Demona's eyes instantly began to glow red with rage. Not only did this upstart have the audacity to steal from her, he was also the one who sent her on her fool's errand to Castle Wyvern, where she was nearly battered to within an inch of her life.

"So what's the endgame, Proteus?" Elisa asked. "Why go to all that trouble to kill me?"

"Oh, this was never about YOU, my dear," Proteus replied as he shifted back to normal. "I just needed a convenient distraction while I attended to other matters…namely, getting the parts I needed to repair this machine and complete my modifications."

"That break-in at NYU," Elisa uttered, her mind starting to put more of the pieces together. "That WAS you."

"Guilty as charged," Proteus explained. "Mind you, that was only one of THREE robberies I pulled while you were out fighting for your life. In fact, the night you were being ambushed at that warehouse, I was on the other side of the docks, getting more parts I needed. If I had just gone smashing into buildings, willy-nilly, you would have likely dropped everything you were doing to find out who was responsible. This way, everyone was too focused on saving your pretty little neck to even notice anything else was happening…until it was too late."

"Of course, considering all the effort I went to, sending all those people after you, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping that at least ONE of them would have been able to pull it off," Proteus added before tossing a scowl in Adam's direction. "But I suppose SOME of you will just insist on becoming a thorn in my side."

"What can I say?" Adam responded with a fanged grin and a lighthearted shrug. "I'm persistent."

"But for how much longer?" Proteus answered back smugly as he pushed a button on his harness, activating the lenses and opening a swirling portal of energy behind him. "That fool, Boreas, had no idea the godlike power he would have had at his disposal. All he wanted to use it for was to retrieve some silly bauble and then throw it away. I, however, have found a much BETTER use for it."

"You have to know we won't be letting you get away with this, Proteus," Katana declared, preparing to unsheathe her swords.

"I'm curious to see how you plan to stop me, seeing as how none of you can TOUCH me," Proteus argued before grinning again. "However, it IS convenient that most of you have managed to gather in one place so that I can dispose of you all at once. Hmmm…so many ways to kill you…what to do, what to do…"

"…I know!"

Just then, numerous clusters of twinkling lights began swirling around in various sections of the room. Eventually, the spiraling trails converged into blinding flashes, equal to what had occurred when Proteus, Adam, Alexander and Katana had all arrived through time. But no one was prepared for what happened after the lights subsided. For standing in the room, across from the team, were multiple versions of Proteus, each with a wicked smirk stretched across their face.

"I think I'll try them ALL!" Proteus declared, cackling in triumph. "And this is just a FRACTION of what I'm able to accomplish. With all of time to create an army from, even Oberon HIMSELF will be helpless before my might!"

"Oh…this is VERY bad," Puck remarked nervously. "He's using that machine to pull different versions of himself from multiple points in time."

"Can he even DO that?" Lexington exclaimed.

"Can, but shouldn't," Alexander answered. "Think about it. At numerous points in history, someone who was SUPPOSED to be there ISN'T anymore. The time stream can't handle so many incursions at once."

"But I thought time was automatically supposed to correct itself," Brooklyn noted.

"The time stream isn't made of taffy! It has limits!" Alexander shot back. "If we don't fix this, he could literally rip apart all of creation!"

"Come on kid!" Puck called out, grabbing Alexander by his shoulder. "We need to whip up a barrier around this whole area. I just hope you haven't been slacking off. No matter what happens, we've GOT to keep this thing contained."

Alexander was quick to follow Puck's lead, flying out through the roof and landing on either side of the estate. Throwing out their arms, the pair instantly threw up a shimmering, multi-colored dome which quickly encompassed the entire area.

"Oh well, they can always be dealt with later," Proteus remarked before turning his attention to the others. "The rest of you, on the other hand…"

Before anyone else could react, one of the Proteus incursions charged forward, transforming into a giant Cyclops. Grabbing Goliath and Adam, he slammed them into the wall behind them, nearly sending Elisa flying as he ran by.

Instantly, Elisa sought to turn her attention to Goliath and Adam, only to have more immediate concerns as another Proteus incursion bore down on her. Acting quickly, she drew her pistol and fired rapidly, but Proteus' morphing body effortlessly bobbed and weaved around each one of her shots.

"Did you really think that mere bullets would do anything against someone who can become ANYTHING?" Proteus gloated, looking over Elisa with a menacing grin.

"Well, I was HOPING pretty hard…," Elisa replied. But she soon tossed a little smirk of her own as Bronx launched himself into the air, slamming into Proteus and chomping firmly on his arm, keeping him pinned to the floor and in too much pain to transform.

"…But just in case I was wrong…"

Meanwhile, Fox had her own problems to deal with as a third Proteus transformed in front of her, thundering forward as a giant Minotaur. With only Fox brandishing her weapon as a threat, Proteus couldn't help but regard her with a cocky smirk.

"You are in WAY out of your depth, little girl," Proteus declared as he cracked his knuckles.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Fox replied, "Bigger opponents don't always equal better odds. Sometimes, all they mean is bigger targets."

Before Proteus could act, Fox raised her weapon and fired, directly at his legs. A pair of laser blasts quickly kneecapped Proteus and sent him collapsing to the ground, leaving Fox the one standing over him in exchange.

"Case in point," she remarked confidently.

Unfortunately, the next sound Fox would make was a cry of pain as a hard impact bashed into her stomach and drove her into the rear wall. Having transformed again, Proteus had now taken the form of a small Kraken, one of its large tentacles wrapping around her with crushing force.

"Fox!" Xanatos cried out, preparing to rocket to her aid.

Just then, a gelatinous substance wrapped around Xanatos' neck, snatching him out of the air and slamming him against the wall. Yet another Proteus was already on the attack, his body transformed into some kind of slime and was already holding Talon at bay.

With Xanatos in the clutches of the other Proteus, Fox was left to fend off her attacker alone. But as she could feel the air gradually being squeezed out of her lungs, it felt like her ribs were going to snap like kindling at any moment and an agonized scream escaped her lips, much to Proteus' delight.

But his pleasure would soon change to a flash of blinding pain as Lexington leaped up from behind, brandishing a large four-by-four wooden beam, which had once been one of the ceiling blanks. Swinging with a loud snarl, he slammed the beam across the back of Proteus' head, smashing it in two and putting him in a daze, forcing him to loosen his grip on Fox.

It took only seconds for Fox to wriggle free and reclaim her rifle. Before Proteus could recover, she switched the laser to a higher setting and fired, striking him with a heavy blast of concentrated energy. The force of the impact was too much for Proteus to bear, losing consciousness and reverting to his normal state as Lexington landed beside Fox.

"…Thanks…," she panted, still working to catch her breath, even as she kept her rifle trained on Proteus' prone form.

"Hey, you heard Goliath. Besides…what would Alex say if I let anything happen to YOU?" Lexington replied as he and Fox glanced at each other just long enough to share a brief grin.

At the same time, on the other side of the room, Hudson found himself backed into a corner as yet another Proteus towered over him, this one having transformed into a large centaur. Clapping his front hoof against the floor as he prepared to charge in, he could only smile with glee at the thought of trampling a Gargoyle.

"Too bad for you the only way to survive a stampede is to get out of its way," Proteus stated heartily.

"Don't be so sure," Hudson replied, tightly brandishing his sword. "Maybe all I need is a stampede of my own."

Before Proteus had time to wonder what Hudson meant, Broadway and Angela both slammed their shoulders into his side, knocking him off his hooves and sending him tumbling to the ground. As Proteus' hooves kicked desperately at the floor, trying to right himself up, he quickly raised his head to see Hudson, Broadway and Angela looming over him, each ready to battle on.

"You can't fight all of us, Lad," Hudson stated as Broadway and Angela snarled in defiance.

"Do tell," Proteus replied with a smirk

Adjusting to the situation, Proteus' body began to transform once again. And this time, it was the Gargoyles' turn to be caught off guard. Within seconds, they suddenly found themselves staring directly into three vicious maws as Proteus transformed into a monstrous Cerberus.

"You have GOT to be kidding…," Broadway uttered in disbelief as Proteus' three massive dog heads roared into their faces.

"Hang on, guys!" Brooklyn called out, ready to jump in with Katana to defend Hudson and the others.

But Brooklyn's cavalry-like rescue was cut short as a massive form plowed into his body, pinning him to the ground. Struggling to lift off his attacker, Brooklyn looked up to see what he was up against. But he certainly wasn't prepared for what he saw next as yet another Proteus had emerged, this one having turned himself into a fearsome Manticore.

"WHOA!" Brooklyn exclaimed as he found himself staring into Proteus' face, his mouth lined with row upon row of razor-sharp teeth.

Responding to Brooklyn's danger, Katana immediately leapt to Brooklyn's aid, mounting Proteus' large lion body. But instead of attacking to save Brooklyn, she found that all she could do was fight for her own life as it took everything she had just to fend off Proteus' scorpion tail.

Meanwhile, the future Proteus was not entirely satisfied with the performance of his other selves. One was already down at the hands of Fox and Lexington. And another was successfully being held at bay, courtesy of Elisa's pistol and Bronx's jaws. Still, he had four other versions that were still firmly in the fight, so he wasn't losing yet. However, he soon had other matters to focus on as a laser blast passed right through his head, piercing the wall behind him. Looking over, it was then that Proteus spied Demona, who had chosen to use the chaos of the battle to make her move.

"Oh great," Brooklyn groaned as he still tried to hold Proteus' Manticore body at bay. "Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse…"

"Well, this IS a surprise," Proteus remarked. "I certainly wasn't expecting to see you here."

"You preening, arrogant buffoon!" Demona shouted in rage, her attention clearly fixated on Proteus and no one else. "Did you really think anyone could get away with stealing from me?"

"Oh…you heard that, did you?" Proteus responded uncomfortably.

Hissing in anger, Demona lunged forward, her talons swiping straight towards Proteus's face. But her attack had no more effect than any of the other attacks that had been launched against Proteus so far, as her entire body phased right through him. Of course, the knowledge only made Demona angrier as she whirled around, preparing to attack again.

"And then, you had the gall to use ME as one of your pawns? NO ONE deceives me!" she snarled.

"Deceive you? Perish the thought. I simply knew that you would be far more trusting of a recording from yourself than that of a complete stranger and that was my ONLY deception. Everything else I told you was absolutely true," Proteus argued calmly, before taking a glance in the direction of Adam, who was still being held at bay by his other version's Cyclops form. "You still haven't figured out what he is, have you?"

"HEY! No tattling!" Adam shouted over as he and Goliath still struggled to free themselves from their Proteus' crushing grip.

But Proteus merely smirked in Adam's direction before leaning over to Demona and whispering silently in her ear. However, for Demona, the words might as well have come as a deafening roar as they echoed in her brain, her jaw hanging open in disbelief and her body stiff and rigid.

"…no…" she murmured under her breath, her stunned gaze slowly turning over towards Elisa, who was still trying to aid Bronx in keeping the second Proteus form down.

"You…" she uttered towards Elisa, her voice rising to a shriek as her eyes blazed with hate. "YOU!"

"Elisa!" Goliath shouted, recognizing the look in Demona's eyes all-too well.

No more time for games. Acting quickly, Adam pulled his laser pistol out of his holster and fired, grazing Proteus' shoulder and forcing him to loosen his grip. Goliath immediately followed suit as he pierced Proteus' other arm with his talons, forcing Proteus to drop Adam to the ground.

With Proteus' attention firmly trained on Goliath, Adam sprang into action, leaping to Elisa's rescue as Demona launched herself towards her, screeching in fury. Slamming a vicious lariat under Demona's arms, Adam whirled her around before slamming her hard into the floor.

Demona was quick to roll back onto her knees, ready to attack again. But her stance did little to discourage Adam, who stood between her and Elisa with a fanged smile, his eyes glowing wildly.

"Don't-even-THINK-about-it," he hissed menacingly.

"Then it IS true!" Demona snarled angrily.

"I TOLD you, you didn't want to know," Adam replied tauntingly.

Growling with a livid rage she was no longer able to control, Demona lunged forward again, intent on tearing her way through Adam to get to Elisa if she had to. But Adam stood firm against her attack and the fight was on.

Meanwhile, Xanatos and Talon were still rendered helpless by the fourth Proteus. Both encased in his body of slime, it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to move. Even worse, Proteus' body had even flowed over Talon's nose and mouth, making it impossible for him to breathe.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Proteus gloated, his slime body managing to work into Xanatos' armor and oozing up toward his face, "Two humans pretending to be Gargoyles? SOMEONE'S overcompensating, aren't they?"

"Don't look at it as compensating…," Xanatos replied calmly enough, even as he struggled to inch his arm towards Talon.

Managing to grab Talon's wrist, Xanatos glanced over in his direction. And Talon, fighting desperately to hold his breath, picked up on Xanatos' hint, clenching his fist and powering up his electrical energy. The surge of power flowed through Xanatos' exo-frame, sending a feedback discharge back out and jolting through Proteus' body and reversing his transformation. Crumpling to his knees, Proteus could only weakly lift his head to see Xanatos' wrist laser and Talon's crackling fist pointed directly at him.

"I've always preferred to think of myself as…extremely adaptable," Xanatos added as he and Talon both fired, sending Proteus flying back and landing in an unconscious heap.

"Don't misinterpret what just happened as an indication that I suddenly like you again," Talon warned Xanatos, his voice laced with contempt.

"I can live with it if you can," Xanatos answered straightforwardly.

At the same time, Adam's battle with Demona was carrying on as Demona raged against Adam with all the ferocity at her command. But they did little to deter Adam, who merely blocked her attacks and fired back with one of his own. Granted, his physical power wasn't nearly what it was in the second half their last battle, when he was flooded with adrenaline from his forced transformation. But his mental faculties were at their peak, his strikes precise and calculated, just as they were when he fought her in his human form.

But even with a clear mind, Adam still had the bestial traits of a Gargoyle at his disposal. Characteristics which soon became apparent as he and Demona lunged at each other, throwing out his arms before driving two clubbing fists into her temples. Stunned, Demona staggered back, only to have Adam grab her arm and whirl her around, throwing her into the wall behind her. Then, with a roar, Adam charged in, piercing Demona's wings against the wall with his talons and forcing her to let out an echoing shriek of agony.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is NOT our first spin around the dance floor, 'D'," Adam snarled under his breath as he flexed his hands, his talons tearing into Demona's wings further and forcing her to cry out in pain once more. "It generally doesn't end well for you."

With that, Adam pulled his hands away, releasing Demona as she dropped to her knees. Shuddering as she tried to nurse her injured wings, her face was twisted in pain as she looked up to Adam, who simply glared down at her as he spoke.

"So…are you done?"

Suddenly, Demona's anger took hold once again. Her eyes glowing again as she shut out her pain, she leaped at Adam once more. But Adam stepped into Demona's attack, avoiding her talons and driving his elbow squarely between her eyes to knock her back. With Demona momentarily dazed, Adam charged in again, delivering an open-palmed fist into Demona's face and driving her head back into the wall. At that moment, Demona was well and truly defeated, collapsing to the ground as an unconscious mass.

"Yeah…you're done." Adam remarked with a scowl as he turned his attention back towards Elisa.

Once again, Elisa was nothing less than impressed at how Adam had managed to dispatch Demona so effortlessly. But she soon had other matters to focus on as Bronx let out a great yelp and she whirled around just as his body flew past and grazed her shoulder, causing her to drop her pistol and sending her spiraling to the ground. Acting quickly, Elisa got her bearings and looked up in the direction Bronx was thrown from. But she was completely unprepared for what she saw looking back at her.

Finally, Proteus had managed to wrest his arm from Bronx's grip and was now towering over Elisa's kneeling form in the form of a giant Amphisbaena. Hissing down at her, the fangs from both snake heads dripping with venom, Proteus prepared to use every muscle in his body to strike down at her at lightning speed.

But before Proteus could attack, Adam charged in first. Using his foot to drive the snake head on Proteus' tail into the floor, his hands snapped up to grab Proteus' snake body. Whipping the second head around at high speed, Adam finally pulled down with a great bellow and slammed it into the floor, rendering Proteus unconscious as his transformation came undone.

"You'd better keep your eyes open," Adam stated with a grin, his voice becoming calmer and more confident as Elisa rose to her feet. "I'm not always going to be around to look out for you, you know."

Suddenly, without warning, Elisa was lunging at Adam, grabbing the laser pistol out of his holster and spiraling around to fire at something behind him. The second Elisa squeezed the trigger, a piercing screech echoed in Adam's ears causing him to whirl around to see what had triggered her response.

What Adam saw was Demona, shuddering on her feet with a stunned gaze just a few steps away, her talons outstretched as she was slinking up behind him for a sneak attack. With a smoldering burn right between eyes, which were already rolling back in her head, she managed to utter only a few tiny rasps before she crumpled to the ground, completely lifeless.

"Same to you," Elisa replied, regarding Adam with a smirk of her own.

Just then, a thunderous impact went off beside them as Proteus' Cyclops form smashed into the ground behind them, followed by Goliath, who landed just a few paces from Elisa and Adam. He'd been managing to hold his own while Adam was protecting Elisa. But even though he was able to hold Proteus at bay, his efforts seemed to do little more than annoy him as he rose up, angrily glaring down at the three of them.

"So," Adam remarked, his eyes darting back and forth between Goliath and Elisa. "Is everyone having a good time?"

Neither Goliath, nor Elisa, had the luxury of responding to Adam's comment as Proteus roared down at them. With Bronx back on his feet, they all charged in to continue the fight, just as Proteus' massive fist smashed into the floor where they had been standing.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn and Katana were making no headway against their Proteus' Manticore form. So far, their main focuses had been for Brooklyn to avoid the rows of jagged teeth, while Katana did her best to fend of Proteus' tail. But things took a drastic turn as Proteus began pawing violently to get to Brooklyn, his claws catching one of Brooklyn's wings and tearing into it, causing him to yell in pain.

"No!" Katana cried out, her eyes glowing in anger.

Her hands taking a firm grip on Proteus' tail, Katana flipped off his back, pulling hard and hauling his giant body off of Brooklyn, heaving Proteus over her shoulder and slamming him hard into the floor. A moment, later, she drew one of her swords, hissing in rage as Proteus rolled back onto his feet. Instantly, Proteus lashed out, his scorpion tail darting in Katana's direction. But Katana lunged forward with blinding speed, avoiding Proteus' attack before bringing her sword down, slicing his tail cleanly in two.

Proteus roared in pain from Katana's strike. But he managed to have enough presence of mind to transform at the exact instant, allowing the part of his body that Katana cut off to reattach itself. Seconds later, Proteus had reshaped himself into the form of a giant Wyvern, using his tail to lunge towards Katana with his claws on his forelimbs outstretched. But once again, Katana met his attack head-on as she surged ahead, her sword running along one of Proteus' limbs as she went, shearing off his scales all the way down to the bare flesh.

Screeching in agony, Proteus lost the concentration to maintain his form, falling to his knees as he clutched his arm, which, while healed from the change back, was still feeling the gash of Katana's blade. But his momentary distraction provided Katana with the opening she needed as she grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, still brandishing her sword with her other hand. With a ferocious snarl, her eyes glowed even brighter as the tip of her blade inched ever closer to Proteus' throat.

"Wait!" Brooklyn's voice called out to her, snapping her out of her enraged trance as her head whirled around to see Brooklyn struggling to pick himself up, nursing his torn wing. "Remember what Puck and Alex said. All these time versions…they have to go back to where and when they came from. Do you understand? You kill him now and we lose any chance we have to make this right. We NEED him alive…"

"…You told me that a wise leader accepts things as they are. I'm just telling it like it is…DON'T-DO-THIS."

Struggling against her anger, Katana finally managed to lower her sword and heed Brooklyn's words, which came as a great relief to Proteus, who was still trembling in pain. Nevertheless, Katana's sudden act of mercy on Brooklyn's behalf didn't stop her from dragging Proteus close and glaring deeply into his eyes.

"Don't you EVER forget who you owe your miserable life to," she hissed, knocking Proteus unconscious with a vicious straight punch to the face before turning her attention to the original Proteus, who was growing increasing frustrated with the way the fight was going. "Here…you can have this one back now!"

With a simple flick of her wrist, Katana tossed her Proteus into the original, purely as a gesture of defiance. But the results were a little different than anyone else had expected. For as the Proteus incursion sailed through the air, his arm happened to brush against the original Proteus' hand. And the moment they made contact, Proteus' hand began to shift and warp, as if he were losing control of his shape-shifting abilities. Even the vortex behind him seemed to bend and twist.

"Wh…wh-what…?" Proteus uttered in shock.

"Whoa…" Brooklyn murmured before turning his attention to the others. "Hey guys! We may have weapons after all! All the other versions of Proteus…they can touch him!"

"That could make sense. They're all connected through the machine," Lexington noted. "But look what's happening. It must have created some kind of feedback when they made contact…it's having a de-stabilizing effect. That might be a way we can undo all this."

Before Proteus could react, Lexington and Talon were already charging towards him, carrying the two Proteus forms they'd already defeated with Fox and Xanatos. The two prone bodies slammed into Proteus, knocking him off his feet. But physical contact seemed to do that much more, as the two Proteus forms actually seemed to be merging with Proteus' body. The portal also seemed to react to what was happening, becoming much more warped and twisted.

"Wha…what's going on?" Proteus shouted, his voice even starting to warble as he and his other forms seemed to be melting together into a giant mass. "S-stop it…!"

Meanwhile, Hudson, Broadway and Angela were still trying to avoid getting eaten by Proteus' Cerberus form. Luckily, they still had one advantage. Proteus' transformation may have given him three heads, but there was still only one direction his entire body could go at any given moment. This gave Hudson an idea to strike. An idea which Angela and Broadway were quick to pick up on as they each exchanged a knowing glance.

Acting in unison, Hudson leaped into the air while Angela and Broadway dashed to either side. Instinctively, Proteus' three heads each lunged to attack a different Gargoyle, but his body remained frozen, unable to move in three separate directions. And Hudson was quick to press the advantage, coming down with a roar and slamming the hilt of his sword straight down onto Proteus' center head. With Proteus stunned from the pain, Angela and Broadway quickly made their move, lunging in with their full weight and driving Proteus' two side heads into the center, cracking them together.

Stunned, Proteus collapsed to the ground, allowing Angela and Broadway to hoist up the dazed beast and charge forward, tossing it towards the wriggling mass that was Proteus' other bodies. Upon contact, the new Proteus body began to melt in as well, causing Proteus to scream in panic as the portal began to warp even further.

Meanwhile, Goliath and Adam were still engaged in battle with Proteus' Cyclops form, alongside Elisa and Bronx. Darting to the side, Elisa fired the laser pistol she'd taken from Adam, blasting Proteus in the back of the knee and causing him to stumble, while Bronx pressed the advantage, biting down firmly on his ankle. With Proteus' vertical base destroyed, Goliath and Adam moved in, each leaping off the wall to deliver a thunderous punch, stunning Proteus and knocking him down. With that, Goliath bet everything on his final move, lifting Proteus' monstrous frame over his head and turning his attention towards the portal.

"This battle is OVER!" he roared, launching the enormous Cyclops into what was left of Proteus. The force of the impact sent them all tumbling into the portal, where they promptly vanished.

"Huh…you know, that wasn't bad for a guy your age," Adam joked, even as everyone else's attention remained fixed on the portal, wondering what would happen next.

"Uh, am I the only one who's a little worried that that portal isn't closing yet?" Fox remarked.

As if in answer to Fox's question, an enormous fist burst from the portal, slamming into the floor. The force of the impact send everyone flying as a second clawed hand pulled at the side of the portal entrance almost trying to force it open wider. A moment later, a giant mass emerged from within, seemingly a jumble of all the forms Proteus transformed into during the battle. Small patches of Wyvern scales peppered his body. A scorpion tail was all that composed his lower half. Jutting from its shoulders were three heads, each which with Proteus' face. But each head had only one eye and three rows of Manticore teeth.

"FOOLS!" he bellowed, rearing his three heads back with a howl of laughter while the others could only look up in shock.

But Proteus' emergence had an unexpected secondary effect. A wave of force emerged from the portal, knocking Goliath and the others back down as they tried to stand. The wave burst through the mansion, slamming into the barrier that Puck and Alexander had erected with crushing force. So much so, that the force of the impact was even enough to send them both sliding back a few steps.

"Oof! What are they doing in there?" Puck shouted, feeling as though he'd just been punched in the stomach.

Unfortunately, Puck has other concerns as the force wave from the portal was enough to breach the top of the barrier he and Alexander tried desperately to maintain. With the dome cracked, energy from the portal began to leak out, bursting into the sky as a stream of light. A fact Alexander was quick to notice as he did everything he could to keep the wall from opening any further.

"Come on…," he uttered under his breath as he struggled against the punishing force. "We're running out of time. It's all up to YOU now…"

* * *

Of course, the lights caused by the damaged portal were not beneath the notice of others in New York. Even across the city, at the Eyrie building, Matt and the Maza's, who were keeping an eye on Little Alexander, were able to see the eerie streak of light, firing into the night sky over the city, through the windows of the nursery. They had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, it was obvious that that was where Elisa was. And she was right in the middle of it.

"I'm going to get on the radio. Maybe someone knows what's going on," Matt stated, running out of the room.

Diane and Peter didn't respond as Matt took off. While Little Alexander merely babbled innocently, Diane could only feel a deep pit in her stomach as she watched the geyser of light continue to illuminate the city skyline.

"Goliath…Derek…I'm begging you," she uttered, her voice trembling as she clutched her chest. "Please…bring her home."

* * *

Back at the mansion, Proteus continued to laugh with mad glee as the portal continued to swirl out of control. And Goliath and the others were left with absolutely no clue how to stop him. The fact that Proteus was able to touch the floor with his initial strike made it clear that he was at least tangible again, so he could be fought. But against such a massive opponent, even with all of them combined, what could be done?

"SUCH POWER!" Proteus bellowed in delight. "I NEVER IMAGINED IT COULD FEEL THIS GOOD!"

It was at that moment, that Elisa happened to glance over and notice the harness Proteus had been wearing. Jutting from his chest, it had become merged with Proteus' patchwork body. And it was still active. Immediately, Elisa's mind began to race with possibilities. If she could just find the right opening…and a weapon…

It was then that she looked over and noticed her service pistol, which had been knocked out of her hand when Bronx had been knocked into her. That gave her the weapon. Now all she needed was the opening. Quietly inching off to the side, she kept her eyes on Proteus' three heads, making sure that he was still too busy gloating to notice anything anyone else was doing.

"NOTHING CAN STOP ME!" Proteus shouted to the heavens. "I…AM…FOREVER!"

At that moment, Elisa seized her opportunity. Throwing herself towards Proteus before Goliath or Adam could stop her, she tucked into a forward roll, collecting her gun off the floor. And just as Proteus noticed her, Elisa flipped to her knees, her gun trained squarely on the harness in his chest.

"You're history."

Before Proteus could react, Elisa squeezed the trigger and fired. The bullet smashed through the power pack of the harness, immediately rendering it inactive. But even as the machine was shut off, the portal remained open, only now flowing inward like vacuum and threatening to absorb everything in it.

"WHAT? NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Proteus wailed as his incursion forms began pulling away from his body and vanishing into the portal, undoing his monstrous form.

Elisa, meanwhile, had dashed into Goliath's arms as he held her close, trying to keep her from getting dragged in. All the others were equally struggling against the vortex's pull. But outside the mansion, Puck could only react with confusion as the crushing force that was pressing against the barrier had suddenly vanished.

"Now what?" he remarked, only to look up towards the mansion. Curious at the sudden change, he and Alexander flew in to investigate.

Back inside, Proteus continued to be separated from his other bodies, while Goliath and the others desperately held their ground. Within moments, the last incursion disappeared into the portal, leaving only Proteus' original body and a badly frayed harness. Of course, it wasn't long before Proteus' thin feeble body succumbed to the pull of the vortex and was taken off his feet. Yelping in panic, he grabbed one of the broken floor planks trying desperately to hold on and avoid getting dragged inside.

"No…! No…! Help!" he cried out in terror. "Somebody help me!"

Just then, Proteus felt himself being pulled away from the vortex, causing him to let out an immediate sigh of relief. But his respite was short-lived as he looked over to see Adam, pulling him up by the harness and glaring into his face with glowing eyes.

"You took something that didn't belong to you," he hissed, flashing a wicked grin.

Proteus could only feel perfectly helpless, his limp body dangling in Adam's grip. But just then, the frayed straps of the harness Proteus was wearing began to give way. And as Adam was starting to pull away from the portal, the entire harness snapped, sending Proteus hurtling inside, screaming in panic as he disappeared.

There was nothing Adam could do to save Proteus without getting pulled into the vortex, himself. The best he could hope for was to try and escape with his own life. But just as he was trying to step back, the floorboards under his feet suddenly began to crack and shift.

"Oh…many things about this are not good," he remarked simply, only to let out a yelp as the floor broke under him and he was send hurtling into the vortex.

Suddenly, a pair of hands firmly gripped Adam's wrist. Looking up, his eyes went wide as he noticed Goliath had lunged forward and was now desperately pulling him back. And Elisa was right there beside him, pulling on Goliath's arm and trying to help him any way she could.

Acting quickly, the rest of the clan charged to Goliath and Elisa's aid, trying to help them rescue Adam. But it was at that moment that Alexander and Puck arrived on the scene. Flying in beside Goliath and Elisa, Alexander noticed the harness still gripped in Adam's hand. Pulling it away, he placed his free hand to Goliath's chest. And with a burst of light, Goliath and Elisa were suddenly thrown back to the other side of the room, dragging Adam with them.

"Puck…barrier…now! No matter what, keep everyone out of here!" Alexander ordered.

"Alex, what are you doing?" Fox shouted as she and Xanatos ran forward, only to be stopped in their tracks by Puck's mystical energy.

Alex didn't respond with words. But as he turned to look at her with a sober expression, his eyes had taken a mystical glow. A moment later, he turned his attention back toward the swirling vortex, holding the damaged harness in his outstretched hands. And with a deep breath, he stood firm and finally began to speak…

"PATH OF AGES, EMPIRES AND EVES,

YOU THREATEN THE EXISTENCE THROUGH WHICH YOU WEAVE,

SO WITH THE TOOLS THAT INJURED YOU TONIGHT,

I SEAL YOUR WOUND…AND END THIS BLIGHT!"

As the words escaped Alexander's lips, a radiant stream of magical energy burst from his chest, striking the harness and feeding it with energy once again. Within seconds, the lenses of the device glowed with life again, creating spirals of twinkling energy around the portal entrance. Gradually, the sparkling trails began to converge, sealing the breach of the vortex and ultimately closing it with a brilliant flash.

Everyone else could only breathe a sigh of relief as the portal finally closed. But their calm was immediately shattered as Alexander's arms dropped to his sides. A moment later, he crumpled to his knees and collapsed to the ground.

"ALEX!" Fox screamed in horror, charging forward as Puck's barrier went down.

Xanatos and Fox were the first to reach him, with Fox sliding along the floor on her knees beside Alexander's prone body. At first, she could only shudder on the spot, afraid to reach out and touch him. She could only feel the empty pit opening in her heart as every second he lay there was another second she feared the worst. It wasn't until Xanatos finally turned him over and Alexander let out a dazed breath that Fox could feel her heart beating again, her eyes welling up, almost to overflowing.

"Oooooohhhh…," Alexander groaned, still gripping the harness as Fox and Xanatos slowly helped him up. "The only thing worse than this part…is the STUPID…RHYMING."

"Hey!" Puck immediately objected.

"Oh, it's dumb and you know it's dumb," Alexander muttered.

"Well…actually, yeah, it is, kinda. But what can you do?" Puck replied with a shrug before the sounds of police sirens in the distance quickly caught his attention. "Uh, ladies? Gentlemen? I'm pretty sure this is where we get off."

"Wait…where's Demona?" Brooklyn asked, only to have everyone glance around the room and notice that Demona had once again disappeared, most likely in the confusion of the battle.

Brooklyn could only let out another heavy, exasperated sigh as Puck threw out his arms, encasing the entire party in yet another sphere of light, which burst off into the sky. And not a moment to soon, as Matt arrived on the scene with several squad cars, just in time to see Goliath and the others making their exit.

"Whoa," one of the uniformed officers remarked as the sphere took off into the clouds and disappeared from sight. "What's up with the light show, Detective?"

"I have no idea," Matt answered, turning back to one of the cars as his voice lowered to a murmur. "But I think I just might know where the answers went."


	7. Chapter 7

Gargoyles  
"The Path Unfolding" – Epilogue  
By Aaron

Barely able to see where she was going, Demona stumbled blindly through the alleys, trying desperately to find her bearings. It took only a few minutes for her to recover from being "killed" by Elisa, back at the mansion. Even the wounds Adam had inflicted to her wings had healed. However, repairing the damage that the laser pistol did to her brain was a much more complicated matter. Her eyes still refused to work properly, as if she was trying to peer through a veil of silk. She could hardly hear anything when she came to. All she could sense going on around her were the muffled sounds of commotion and several blurred images. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out how she managed to find her way out or even what she was finding her way out of. With senses impaired and surrounded by chaos, she could only respond to blind instinct. And for Demona, that instinct was her to run…fast and far.

It wasn't until she tripped over her own feet and collapsed to the ground that she finally stopped running. Coughing and sputtering as she tried to catch her breath, she happened to look up at the lit city streets, shining into the alley, and noticed that her eyes were finally beginning to focus again. However, the return of her eyesight was hardly first on her list of priorities at that moment. Her mind was still in a fractured daze, as if all her memories of the past few nights were just streaking right past her in a blur.

"Why…can't I…think?" she groaned angrily as she buried her face in her hands, trying desperately to get her mind to work and remember what she had gotten herself in the middle of.

Just then, the sound of a loud thump caught her attention from the entrance of the alley. Slowly rising to her feet and being ready for anything, she gradually made her way to the street and peered around the corner. Luckily, all she'd heard was a bundle of newspapers that had been dropped in front of a nearby newsstand by a delivery van. Waiting until the van was far down the street and gone, Demona emerged from the alley, examining the papers to inspect the date. But once she did, she could only become that much more confused as her eyes went wide with disbelief.

"This…this can't be right," she uttered in shock, looking up at the night sky in vain for some kind of answer. "Almost a whole week has gone by. But I…I can't remember…I can't…"

"What…happened to me?"

* * *

"Well, luckily, all that was damaged was the power cell," Alexander noted, surrounded by family and clan in Xanatos' office and tinkering with the New Olympians' device while a series of papers printed off the computer. "Now that we've got that replaced, it should be enough to get us back to where we want to be…or more appropriately, WHEN we want to be."

"Are you sure you even know how that thing works?" Lexington asked with a hint of concern.

"All right here," Alexander answered, holding up the envelope of instructions he'd received from the future. "Speaking of which…"

At that moment, the computer had stopped printing off its series of pages, which Alexander promptly collected. Pulling an empty envelope out of Xanatos' desk, he carefully slipped the papers inside.

"You guys might want to make sure you hold on to those," he noted, turning his attention to Xanatos and Fox, while handing the envelope to Owen. "It just might come in handy…25 years from now."

"Wait a minute. You're writing those notes for yourself in the future," Matt pointed out as Owen filed the envelope away. "But…you already HAVE them."

"But I DIDN'T until I came back here and wrote them for myself," Alexander explained. "You gotta follow the rules, man. You can't just pull something out of nowhere."

"But the only reason you know any of this at all was because you TOLD yourself. So technically…didn't that information ITSELF come out of nowhere?" Matt asked before pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"Matt, when it comes to time travel, take my advice," Elisa answered with a hint of amusement. "I found my life got a lot easier when I STOPPED trying to make sense of it."

"So…what do you think happened to Proteus?" Angela asked.

"I imagine we'll probably leave Boreas to answer THAT question," Katana replied. "Once we give this device back to him, he can make the decision to either pull Proteus out of time or leave him where he is. Honestly, I really don't care which."

"Hmmm…," Talon muttered uncomfortably, getting everyone's attention.

"Something wrong, Lad?" Hudson asked.

"Well…am I the only one who's worried about that $20 million that Proteus said he embezzled from Demona?" Talon responded thoughtfully. "You know, the money he used to put the hit out on Elisa? It's still out there, you know."

"Oh," Alexander noted, snapping his fingers and making an aluminum briefcase appear in a flash of light before opening it up to reveal it packed with money. "You mean…THIS $20 million?"

"Where-did-you-get-that?" Matt exclaimed as the rest of the room could only look on in surprise.

"Just one more thing that Owen and I had to take care of while everyone else was snoozing the day away," Alexander replied. "Proteus has some MODEST computer skill, but he's still not in MY league. Once I found out what account the money was being held in, it was a relatively simple matter to have it transferred electronically, so…"

"…You stole it," Elisa accused, cutting Alexander off.

"Oh, heavens no. Stealing would imply that it was her money in the first place," Alexander argued as he latched the briefcase closed and shifted his gaze in Goliath's direction. "You're forgetting that Demona incorporated all of her funds with those of a certain clone of a certain individual in this room, or am I being to vague? And 20 million dollars of THAT money ORIGINALLY belonged to ANOTHER certain individual by the name of David Xanatos…"

"…Which I am now happily returning," Alexander continued, sliding the briefcase across the desk to Xanatos, who merely responded with an amused smirk. "Consider it turnaround on a successful business investment."

"Ooooohhh, that's our boy," Fox cooed dotingly, reaching over and hugging Alexander around the neck.

"Well…eventually," Alexander answered with a shrug.

"What did I tell you?" Katana stated, while everyone else in the room could only hang their heads uneasily.

"Why do I suddenly have a REALLY queasy feeling in my gizzard?" Brooklyn remarked.

"You'll get over it," Alexander replied assuredly before rising to his feet. "Well, don't think this hasn't been fun guys, but we've gotta run. We've still got one more stop to make before heading home."

"Where are you off to, now?" Lexington asked.

"Well, we've still gotta go back two weeks, make sure Owen gets that e-mail," Alexander replied. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have the information he needed to help out Adam when he arrived. Speaking of which, where IS he, anyway. I haven't seen him since we got back."

"I believe the monitor will have the answer for you," Owen replied simply, pointing at one of the surveillance screens in the office to reveal Adam looking out over the city from one of the castle battlements.

"I got him," Elisa declared, turning around before taking Goliath's hand in hers. "Want to come with?"

"I'll…be along in a moment," Goliath replied innocently.

Elisa simply nodded with a gentle smile as she gently caressed his hand before walking out of the office. But Goliath, himself, wasn't as forgiving. Granted, he was relieved that the threat against Elisa's life had been dealt with and that the entire matter had been brought to an end. But now there was the far more lingering matter of Elisa's pregnancy. After all, there was still no telling what the end result would be to this impossible occurrence. What would happen to the child? What would happen to Elisa? None of these were questions he had any answers to. And even as Hudson sensed his discomfort and put his hand on Goliath's shoulder for assurance, it did little to ease Goliath's mood as he merely let out a heavy sigh.

Little did Goliath know that Elisa's pregnancy was exactly what she was thinking about as well as she slowly made her way through the castle to meet up with Adam. However, her train of thought was taking a decidedly different route than Goliath's was. Now that she had this time with her thoughts, time to relax, look back and take stock of everything that had just happened, she couldn't help but take not of certain memories over the past few days. Things that, while at the time, weren't given any consideration, now suddenly felt very curious…

… … … …

"Truth is, one of the greatest people I've ever known was born here and she's never wanted to live anywhere else."

"Who's that?"

"My mother. My father, on the other hand, hit a pretty rough patch for a while and ended up here. Didn't care for the city much until he met her…then he couldn't bear to leave."

… … … …

"Actually, I can't imagine what their lives would have been like if they hadn't found each other…He gave her a life she never knew was out there…and she made his life worth living again."

… … … …

"Huh…fast hands AND a dead eye. You're just FULL of surprises, aren't you?"

"Well, what can I say? My mom's a good teacher,"

… … … …

"Unnh…who are you? You're certainly no human…"

"Oh, I'd tell you. But…you wouldn't want to hear it. It would make you craaaaaaazyyyyyyy…"

… … … …

"Yeah…? Who's gonna save anyone from ME…?"

"From you? What are you talking about?"

"…Don't blink…you'll miss it…"

"…oh…my…God…"

… … … …

"Yeah…him…So, are you going to tell us what the deal is with our guy, here? Particularly, what was with that Gargoyle 'Jekyll-and-Hyde' act he pulled last night?"

"Don't get greedy, Elisa. There's only so much I can get away with telling you. And believe me I'm pushing it, as it is."

… … … …

"You still haven't figured out what he is, have you?"

"HEY! No tattling!"

"…no…"

"You…YOU!"

… … … …

"Don't-even-THINK-about-it,"

"Then it IS true!"

"I TOLD you, you didn't want to know."

… … … …

Eventually, Elisa's mind stopped drifting and she soon realized she had reached the exit to the battlement where Adam was looking out over the city. At first, she was completely unsure about what to say to him. But then she remembered that he'd be leaving any minute. And once he did, another opportunity would never come again. So, taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and walked out along the walkway to greet him.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked, announcing her arrival. "I guess it all looks pretty different where you're from, huh?"

"Actually, you'd be surprised how much it doesn't," Adam replied simply, "Although, there are a couple of places that, if you were there, you wouldn't even recognize them."

"Mmm," Elisa replied simply, nodding her head.

"It's kinda like everyone here, really. At least, for me," Adam added. "Seeing them now…it's like…looking at a picture of someone you know before you met them and all you can think is…they're just not…complete yet."

"I guess I could see that," Elisa noted, pausing to take yet another deep breath before speaking again. "So…'Gargan', huh? Gotta say, that was a pretty interesting alias."

"I thought you'd get a kick out of it," Adam responded with an amused smile.

"I don't suppose you're actually going to tell me what your REAL name is," Elisa suggested, none too subtly, which only captured Adam's undivided attention as he stepped back from the edge and looked at her intently.

"You want me to confirm what you already suspect," he deduced with a cryptic grin, partially concealing a more serious expression underneath. "Would it actually make you feel better if I did?"

Elisa didn't respond right away. It wasn't until she looked down and placed her hand over her belly that an answer finally escaped her lips.

"To be honest…I really don't know."

Just then, Adam propped his finger up under Elisa's chin, drawing her gaze to meet his. At that moment, Elisa wasn't entirely sure what to think. And she knew even less as Adam gently cupped her face and softly kissed her forehead.

This was the scene that greeted Goliath and the others as they reached the exit to the battlement. They had no idea what to make of it either. Just then, they watched Adam lean down, placing his hand on Elisa's belly and whispering in her ear. Even with Gargoyle hearing, they were still too far away to hear what Adam was saying. But his words clearly rocked Elisa to the core as her eyes went wide and she looked over at Adam, completely stunned. Adam, meanwhile, simply looked back at her with a tender smile.

"Hey!" Alexander called up with a couple of shrill claps as he walked into the courtyard with Katana. "We got places to be! Are you coming or what?"

Adam simply responded with a nod in Elisa's direction before leaping off the battlement. Twisting horizontally in mid-air, he finally opened his wings halfway down, allowing him to glide backwards, using the talons on his feet to skid to a stop, right in front of Alexander and Katana.

"Show off," Katana uttered sarcastically as Adam simply smirked at her with a quick straightening of his tie.

Elisa, meanwhile, was still standing on the battlement, frozen in stunned silence. In fact, she didn't even seem to notice as Goliath and the others ran to her side.

"Elisa, are you alright?" Broadway exclaimed, voicing everyone's concern.

"What did he say to you?" Goliath asked only to have Elisa reach over and place his hand on her belly, even as her gaze never wavered from Adam's direction.

"He said…, 'Don't worry…'," Elisa spoke weakly through a trembling smile as tears that were no longer under her control began flowing down her cheeks, "…'He'll be fine'…"

"…'I oughta know'."

Now it was everyone else's turn for a shock as Goliath and the others looked down at Adam who was about to depart. Goliath was naturally even more staggered than the others, especially as Adam looked back up towards him with a deathly sober gaze.

"Contact!" Alexander announced, pressing the activation button on the time machine.

At that moment, all the lenses came to life, creating a familiar swirl of twinkling lights around the future trio. Within moments, the sparkling trails converged, indicating that they were only seconds from disappearing for good. And Katana couldn't help but toss a playful wink upward in Brooklyn's direction, causing him to respond with a look of confusion. Adam, meanwhile, had his own means of saying farewell as he spread his wings wide, threw up a pair of peace signs and reared back his head.

"GOODNIGHT MANHATTAN!" he bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the courtyard as the lines of glitter met, causing the three to vanish in a brilliant flash.

"I said it before and I'll say it again," Xanatos remarked from the stairs at the edge of the courtyard, "Fascinating."

"Yes…he really is…isn't he," Fox replied as she snuggled against Little Alexander, who simply giggled, still waving goodbye to the three strangers who just disappeared.

Meanwhile, back up on the battlement, Elisa finally managed to regain her composure, wiping the tears from her eyes. It was then that everyone else managed to snap out of their own astonishment as Elisa put her arms around Goliath and snuggled against his chest. Goliath was quick to return the favor, holding her close and folding his wings around her gently as the rest of the clan gathered around. And what was initially surprise had now given way to a certain awe as Angela moved in, pulling away briefly before finally placing her own hand on Elisa's belly, her smile a mixture of joy and excitement.

A moment later, everyone turned their gaze towards the city skyline, looking out towards the horizon. As Goliath and Elisa still held each other close, their fear gradually became drowned out by a bright feeling of hope. Even Peter and Diane, down in the courtyard, somehow found themselves feeling more at ease and they took in the sight of their daughter, surrounded by nothing but the support of her friends and loved ones. And all around, there seemed to be just a profound sense of relief as the entire group looked towards a future that suddenly seemed filled with possibilities as limitless as the lights of the city below.

"So…have you thought about what you're going to tell Captain Chavez?" Matt mentioned suddenly.

"Just HAD to ruin the moment, didn't you?" Elisa replied sarcastically, making Matt suddenly feel very sheepish.

"Sorry."

The End


End file.
